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CITIES AT RISK: Developing Adaptive Capacity for Climate Change in Asia’s Coastal Megacities
The East West Center (EWC) and the global change SysTem for Analysis Research and Training (START), together with a number of partners including the World Climate Research Programme (WCRP), International Human Development Programme (IHDP), Urban Global Environmental Change (UGEC) programme, Land-Ocean Interactions in the Coastal Zone (LOICZ), and ICSU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ROAP), with financial support from the Asia Pacific Network (APN) and ICSU, collaborated to host a major workshop on Cities at Risk: Building Adaptive Capacity for Climate Change in Asias Coastal Megacities on 26 to 28 February 2009 in Bangkok. It brought together scientists, urban planners and officials, and representatives of disaster management and development agencies to review scientific findings and projections regarding climate-related risks (e.g., sea level rise, extreme climate events, intensification of storms and storm surges) for Asia’s coastal megacities.
Workshop participants examined potential vulnerabilities and current coping mechanisms as well as means for improving networking and communication between urban planners/officials and the scientific community. Case studies from Dhaka (Bangladesh), Shanghai and Hong Kong / Shenzhen / Guangzhou (China), Mumbai and Calcutta (India), Jakarta (Indonesia), Karachi (Pakistan), Manila (Philippines), Bangkok (Thailand), and Ho Chi Minh City (Vietnam) provided examples that anchored discussions during the workshop.
Workshop participants worked to develop recommendations relating to future priorities for policy-relevant research and science-based capacity building to promote adaptation for climate change in Asia’s coastal megacities. A workshop report will be produced that will include recommendations for follow-up activities, a monograph or special journal issue that will include selected workshop papers, and a policy brief based on workshop presentations, discussions, and recommendations.
For additional information, please contact Prof. Roland Fuchs (FuchsR@EastWestCenter.org) at the East West Center (www.eastwestcenter.org) or Ms. Clark Seipt (cseipt@agu.org) at START (www.start.org).
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ICSU-funded Spring School: Fluid Mechanics and Geophysics of Environmental Hazards.
This is to announce the ICSU-funded Spring School on the subject "Fluid Mechanics and Geophysics of Environmental Hazards” that will be held from 19th April to 2nd May 2009 at the Institute for Mathematical Sciences, National University of Singapore. This is an activity under ICSU priority area on "Natural and Human-Induced Environmental Hazards and Disasters"
The School is aimed at Graduate Students and young Researchers in Mathematics, Physics, and Engineering Sciences, and the organizers hope to attract students particularly from Asia and the Pacific Region. *Grants are available for the support of suitably qualified applicants.*
Details on the School and method of application can be found at http://www.ims.nus.edu.sg/Programs/09fluidss/index.htm
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International Conference on Indian Ocean Tropical Cyclones and Climate Change
Date: 8 - 11 March 2009
Organisation: World Meteorological Organization (WMO)/ Government of Oman
The Conference will bring together leading experts, from both research and operational meteorological environments. The event aims to be a first step towards an ongoing international focus on the potential impacts of climate change on the Indian Ocean, and its proceedings will be published as a WMO technical document. Members of the World Weather Research Programme Expert Team will present papers on various aspects of climate change impacts on tropical cyclones.
The broad thematic areas of the conference are:
- Operational Tropical Cyclone Forecasting and warning Systems;
- Progress on tropical Cyclogenesis;
- Climate Change and Tropical Cyclone Activity;
- Assessment of Risk and Vulnerability from tropical Cyclones, including construction, archival and retrieval of best-track and historic data sets;
- Disaster Preparedness, Management and Reduction;
- Recent high impact tropical cyclone events in the Indian Ocean: Nargis, SIDR, Gonu and other events.
For details visit http://web.squ.edu.om/tropicalcyclones/Registration.htm |
