Forging knowledge foundations: Framing resilient futures - Focus on higher education and disaster risk reducation

Overview

Every year, the Periperi U Consortium meets to discuss progress in strengthening applied disaster risk scholarship in Africa. In 2013, this event has been reframed to coincide with the Global Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction, and will be convened in Geneva on 24 May.

The 2013 Periperi U Seminar will be hosted by the Technical University of Mozambique in association with UNISDR and the Periperi U secretariat. It will specifically profile practical advancements in the generation of skilled human capital and contextually relevant disaster risk research in Africa. These are both explicitly underlined as key elements of the African Plan of Action for disaster risk reduction.

The seminar acknowledges that building disaster resilient futures goes well beyond a conceptualisation of risk-averse construction confined to bricks and mortar. It underlines the crucial role played by higher education in establishing the human capital foundation for advancing disaster risk-related policy and practice. The forum aims at facilitating a conversation between institutions of higher learning committed to educational innovation in applied disaster risk scholarship and the diverse range of professional and institutional constituencies engaged in disaster risk reduction.

This session recognises that progress towards more disaster resilient futures requires close cooperation between government, private sector, civil society and higher education stake-holders. This is key to sustaining the provision of skilled human capital to support national and subnational efforts in disaster risk reduction, and central to contextually relevant disaster research to inform innovation, sustainable development and social upliftment.

Session objectives

The session specifically seeks to open the conversation about the role of higher education institutions (HEIs) in advancing human capital in applied disaster risk reduction. This includes profiling:

• Expectations by key stake-holder groups of HEI participation in the broader disaster risk reduction enterprise.
• The accomplishments and educational innovations by African higher education institutions in introducing new applied academic programmes that address the continent’s disaster risks.
• Examples of contextually relevant academic programmes and research to inform local risk reduction and innovation efforts.
• Successes in disaster risk reduction policy and practice through collaboration between HEIs and other stake-holders.
• Prospects for strengthened engagement post 2015.