Summer Course 2012, Quezon City, Philippines, 6-16 Aug.

DEVELOPMENT WITHIN A LOW CARBON WORLD: Preparing Professionals for Deserter Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation

Welcome to the Summer Course entitled “DEVELOPMENT WITHIN A LOW CARBON WORLD: Preparing Professionals for Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation” The summer course during August 6 through 16, 2012 on climate change policies toward a low carbon society is designed and organized jointly by Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation (IDEC) and Hiroshima University’s Center for Environmental Cooperation (HICEC), Hiroshima University co-organized with the School of Urban and Regional Planning, the University of Philippines Diliman (UP SURP) and Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, the University of Texas Austin (UT LBJ). The course will be conducted at the University of the Philippines Diliman Campus, Quezon City, the Philippines.

In 2003, HICEC was established as one of the COE (Centers of Excellence) with support of the 21st Century Center of Excellence (COE) Program by the Ministry of Education, Sports, Science and Technology (MEXT), Japan in the field of international environmental cooperation and has conducted a five-year education and research program from 2003 to 2007. With the experiences and achievements of the COE program, a new program proposed by HICEC was selected again as one of five programs of the MEXT Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology, FY2008 on international capacity building in environmental cooperation in Asia and Africa, entitled Global Environmental Leaders Education Program for Designing a Low Carbon Society (GELs Program) in 2008. The program was officially launched in September 2008, and it aims to establish a global center for training environmental leaders capable of identifying problems faced by the developing world and of designing strategic solutions on a national or local level from multiple and international perspective. This program offers a variety of educational programs including a degree based program for IDEC students, a visiting fellowship program for post-doctoral young researchers and short courses for practical professionals in coordination with various global partner organizations and universities.

This course is the fourth summer course under the GELs Program. The first summer course, “DEVELOPMENT WITHIN A LOW CARBON WORLD: Preparing Professionals for Post-Kyoto Climate Negotiations and Sustainable Growth Policies” was successfully conducted jointly with LBJ School, The University of Texas Austin during August 5-21, 2009 at Hiroshima International Plaza and IDEC in Higashi-Hiroshima City, Japan,. Since then, IDEC has held the summer course every summer: “DEVELOPMENT WITHIN A LOW CARBON WORLD: Preparing Professionals for Participatory Approaches in Planning and Implementing Climate Change Policies” with Master of Science in Information Technology for Natural Resources Management (MIT for NRM), Bogor Agricultural University, Indonesia in 2010 and “DEVELOPMENT WITHIN A LOW CARBON WORLD: Preparing Professionals for Policy and Planning Instruments for Green Innovation” with State Key Laboratory of Earth Surface Processes and Resource Ecology (ESPRE), Beijing Normal University, China in 2011. We have around forty participants from all over the world in each time.

Rationale and contents for the Summer Course 2012

Mitigation and adaptation are equally important to achieve sustainable development in the Low Carbon World. While mitigation measures reduce the greenhouse gas (GHG) emission to minimize the impact on the climatological system of the Earth, human societies must adapt to climate change due to the accumulated GHGs already emitted to the atmosphere in order to protect their properties and assets. Natural hazards, especially hydrometeorological hazards, get direct impact from the climate change, and the result has been seen in changes in precipitation pattern, increase in number of tropical cyclone and its intensification, and sea level rising. All these changes, together with indirect impacts such as livelihood change and ecological system degradation caused by the climate change, increase the vulnerability to disasters. The Hyogo Framework for Action (HFA) is an on-going international agreement and provides the foundation for the implementation of disaster risk reduction under the climate change regime. Yet there are several difficulties to overcome in implementing an effective disaster risk management to enhance the community resilience against disasters, especially in developing countries.

In the Summer Course 2012, lectures are divided into two parts: First, based on the HFA, lectures addressing difficulties in implementing an effective disaster risk management and possible solutions are provided. Participants obtain the knowledge of current obstacles on the integration of disaster risk management and climate change adaptation from a technical point of view (9 hours) and from political and institutional point of views (9 hours). The second half of the course presents more specific topics on disaster risk managements under the climate change regime. It provides how to prepare for and react to specific types of disasters (3 hours), how to make an integrated planning in cities and coastal areas (6 hours), and current practices in several countries (6 hours). With the all materials and contents in the lectures, participants conduct group work to produce a recommendation for disaster risk management plan of specific sites around Manila (9 hours + 6 hours for presentation). (Based on the third draft of the course plan)

Organizer

• Hiroshima University
  • Graduate School for International Development and Cooperation (IDEC)
  • Hiroshima International Center for Environmental Cooperation (HICEC)
• Lyndon B. Johnson School of Public Affairs, University of Texas at Austin
• University of the Philippines Diliman

Supplementary Information

Venue

Summer Course 2012 will be held at the School of Urban and Regional Planning of the University of Philippines Diliman (UP-SURP), Quezon City, the Philippines.
UP Dilliman: Established in 1908, the University of the Philippines is the only national university of the country and pioneer in higher education through academic excellence, research and public service. The UP System is comprised of 7 constituent universities (UP Diliman, UP Manila, UP Los Banos, UP Visayas, UP Mindanao, UP Open University) and one autonomous college, located in 14 campuses all over the country. It offers 240 undergraduate and 402 graduate programs.UP Diliman is the flagship university and the seat of administration of the UP System. It has a total land area of 493 hectares. A bigger portion of this area is used for building infrastructure and research facilities, while the rest is forested, reserved for development, residential areas and open space. UP Diliman offers 296 graduate and undergraduate courses and runs several centers of research and extension services.
(For more information, please refer to the following websites)
Website of UP Diliman (http://www.upd.edu.ph/)
Visitor information website (http://www.upd.edu.ph/visitors.htm)

Access

We will arrange a microbus from Manila International Airport to UP-SURP for those arriving in a group. Attendants arriving at Manila individually should take “Airport Taxi” (yellow taxi) to the venue (about PHP700), which is far safer and more reliable than normal ones.

Accommodation

Attendants will accommodate at either University Hotel or Kapit Balay International House; both are on-campus facilities and next to each other. It will take about 20 minutes on foot from the hotel to the venue. We are negotiating with the on-campus bicycle rental service. You might able to use a bicycle with a little bit of additional fees. There are jeepneys (a public transportation) circulating in the campus, which also take you to the venue (cost around PHP7). Note that, in the Philippines, August is rainy season. Attendants should prepare an umbrella or raincoat for sudden heavy rain.

Foods and Shops

Attendants have to find places for breakfast and dinner by themself. There is a restaurant (cafeteria) at University Hotel; breakfast will cost about PHP100. There is a canteen in the campus. There are also several restaurants around the campus. The expected cost will be in the range of PHP65-PHP120. A meal in a more expensive restaurant, Via Mare, can cost around PHP300. Kapit Balay International House has a kitchen in each room (We will allocate Kapit Balay for Muslims because the summer course is held in the period of Ramadan, so they have to eat before sunrise). In addition, there is a shop called Dilliman Shopping Center (SC) in the campus, where you can buy almost every daily need during your stay.

Informational Devices

SC2012 is going to be a “paperless” workshop (although there might be some paper handouts). All attendants must bring their own laptop, tablet or some other devices to receive/browse course materials and for working on the group work. There are free Wi-Fi connections at the classroom and rooms in University Hotel. At Kapit Balay International House, there is no individual connection port in each room but you have Wi-Fi connections in the common space at the ground level.

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Group Work

Attendants are split into eight groups. Each group will have a working site from four disastrous areas around Manila we selected (Manila Bay, Malabon City, Marikina City, Bacolor, Pampanga). This means that two groups will be assigned to a site. We will make a team arrangement around the beginning of June, so you can start communicating with your team members ahead of the summer course. On the second day of the summer course, you will have a technical visit to your working site with your team members (and the other group). The local officials will take you to a tour and explain the situation at the site. At the end of each day during the summer course, we assign the time for group working. Also a half of the second last day is reserved for finishing the group work. The last day on the summer course will be for group work presentations. We are planning to invite local officials to show your results.

Please check the following document for details. >> Site of Group Working 

Schedule

In the Summer Course 2012, lectures are divided into two parts: First, based on the HFA, lectures addressing difficulties in implementing an effective disaster risk management and possible solutions are provided. Participants obtain the knowledge of current obstacles on the integration of disaster risk management and climate change adaptation from a technical point of view (9 hours) and from political and institutional point of views (9 hours). The second half of the course presents more specific topics on disaster risk managements under the climate change regime. It provides how to prepare for and react to specific types of disasters (3 hours), how to make an integrated planning in cities and coastal areas (6 hours), and current practices in several countries (6 hours). With the all materials and contents in the lectures, participants conduct group work to produce a recommendation for disaster risk management plan of specific sites around Manila (9 hours + 6 hours for presentation).

Monday, 6 August

• Opening remarks (Dr. A. Pascual (President, UP))
• Introduction (Dr. A. Fujiwara (Dean, IDEC))
• Overview of Disaster Risk Management and Climate Change Adaptation (Dr. C.A. Cabrido (UP-SURP))

Tuesday, 7 August

• Technical visit I: Manila Bay, Malabon, Marikina, Pampanga

Wednesday, 8 August

• Climate and Hazard Information II: Climate Modeling (Dr. Han Soo Lee (IDEC))
• Communication of Risk and Planning III: Early Warning System (Mr. Taichi Minamitani (JICA))
• Group work

Thursday, 9 August

• Climate and Hazard Information III: Hazard Map (Dr. Alfredo Mahar Lagmay (NIGS, UP))
• Communication of Risk and Planning I: Policy relevance and Planning (Dr. Benito M. Pacheco (UP))
• Group work

Friday, 10 August

• Communication of Risk and Planning II: Community Participation (Dr. Oscar P. Ferrer (UP))
• Climate and Hazard Information I: Observation and Monitoring (Dr. Yukio Tanaka (JICA))
• Group work

Saturday, 11 August

• Technical Visit II (Tagaytay)

Sunday, 12 August

• Technical Visit III (Manila City)

Monday, 13 August

• Disaster and Climate Change (Dr. Takao Yamashita (IDEC), Dr. Fernando P. Siringan (UP-MSI))
• Integrated Coastal Zone Management (Dr. Fátima Alves (University of Aveiro))
• Group work

Tuesday, 14 August

• Climate Resilient City (Mr. Victorino Aquitania (ICLEI), Ms. Cordelia Lacsamana (Baguio City))
• Regional Experiences I (Mr. Naderev Sano (The Climate Change Commission), Hon. Jose M.C. Salceda (Prov. of Albay))
• Group work

Wednesday, 15 August

• Regional Experiences II (Dr. David J Eaton (UT-Austin), Participants (from three countries))
• Group work
• Group work

Thursday 16, August

• Group presentation

Summer Course is supported by Japan Student Service Organization (JASSO) with the funds of The Nakajima Foundation,  Young Researcher Overseas Dispatch program of Hiroshima University and MEXT Special Coordination Funds for Promoting Science and Technology.