UNESCO-IPRED Workshop on “Make the Citizens a Part of the Solution” and 2nd session of the IPRED

• © National Geophysical Data Center

Istanbul, 6-7 July, 2009

The UNESCO-IPRED Workshop on “Make the Citizens a Part of the Solution” is hosted by the Istanbul Technical University (ITU) and supported by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). The workshop will be held on Monday, 6th and 7th July 2009 at the Conference Hall of Civil Engineering Faculty of ITU Maslak Campus. On this occasion, the second session of the International Platform for Reducing Earthquake Disasters (IPRED) will also be held at the venue.

UNESCO has recently launched the IPRED programme in order to identify gaps and priorities through the sharing of scientific knowledge and experience in the field of seismology and earthquake engineering, and to support the development of political will and public awareness, for the purpose of ensuring the better preparation against earthquakes and building a culture of safety for the people in the world.

The responsibilities of local authorities and community leaders such as governors, mayors and other administrators are pronounced when the probability of occurrence of any kind of disasters starts to increase. Earthquake is one of the major expected disasters especially for the metropolitan areas located in seismic zones all over the world.

Participants shall have the privilege of meeting in the city of Istanbul, recognized by the international community as one of those mega settlements where the safety of critical infrastructures such as hospitals, schools, etc. as well as residential buildings should be ensured as a top priority. Efforts must be pursued so that all realistic measures are taken in order to realize more resilient communities.

Since the magnitude of the problem communities face is clearly recognized, an encouraging continuous process should be initiated as quickly as possible for the purpose of making all the citizens a part of the problem. This needs core people who are conscious, educated, trained and very well prepared.

It is also known that an “Earthquake Master Plan for Istanbul” was prepared in 2003 by the help of four local universities and the metropolitan municipality of Istanbul based on JICA Development Study. Those and some other works carried out by universities are milestones on our way to have safer cities. It is time now to accelerate the cooperative work for quick implementation of new findings in rehabilitation techniques as well as in new construction.

This workshop especially intends to give a fresh push in a coordinated manner toward the initiatives for public preparedness and rehabilitation of existing buildings taken by individual institutions.

This year is the decennial memorial of the earthquakes which occurred on 17 August 1999 in Kocaeli and 12 November 1999 in Düzce. This workshop will contribute to the reduction of earthquake losses and participants have the opportunity to contribute to the health and safety of the millions of people. We are looking forward to your participation.

Related links:
::  ITU University (More)
::  The Structural and Earthquake Engineering Laboratory (STEEL)
::  Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)
::  Logistic information
::  Information leaflet
::  Announcement
::  Preliminary Programme

• Source:UNESCO SC
• 01-07-2009

• © NASA - Izmit, Turkey 1999 Earthquake Interferogram