Geological Survey Organizations (GSOs) play a critical role in understanding geo-hazards and risks as a required component for designing and implementing disaster risk management policies and programs. This forum will provide three virtual workshops to support the exchange of information among executives and senior managers on the role of GSOs in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) at a National Level. The forum will provide a high level overview of the role of GSOs in disaster risk reduction, including strategies, awareness of and advocacy on hazards and risks, financial risk management, building codes, and early warning systems.

The forum will also provide an overview of the range of national interinstitutional governance structures within which GSOs function, in the context of national level DRR and climate change adaptation policy settings. Speakers will discuss the common challenges and opportunities for effective use of hazard and risk assessments in national DRR policies, investments, and programs, identify gaps and enablers for enhancing the role of GSOs in DRR, and evaluate how the focus and investments in climate adaptation can be a threat but also an opportunity for enhancing geo-risk awareness and resilience measures.

The forum will be hosted as a set of three regional sessions, with each regional forum featuring pre-recorded lectures from science policy experts and geoscientists and a live moderated discussion session with attendees.

All sessions will be conducted in English with live captioning in French, Spanish, Portuguese, Russian, Modern Chinese, and Arabic.

Please contact Sahar Safaie at sahar.safaie@sageonearth.ca with any questions about this forum.

Session Agenda

Download the session agenda

Download the speaker bios

Part I: The Enablers: Mechanisms that facilitate GSOs' role in disaster and climate risk management
06 February 2023  13.00 - 16.00 GMT

   View presentations and discussion session

13:00 GMT     Welcoming remarks from WCOGS- GSC (event sponsor)
Sonia Talwar, Director – Pacific Division, Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada

13:05 GMT    Remarks from UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR)
Paola Albrito, Director, UNDRR

13:10 GMT    Setting the context: The role of GSOs in Disaster Risk Reduction & what we heard from GSOs around the world.
Sahar Safaie, Disaster and Climate Risk Management Specialist / Founder, Sage On Earth Consulting

Q/A

13:30 GMT    Panel 1: National governance mechanisms that enable GSO’s role in disaster risk reduction
John Schneider, Secretary General, Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation (Chair)

Malaika Ulmi, Public Safety Geoscience Program Manager, Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada   View Slides
Matt Godsoe, Director of the Resilience and Economics Integration Division, Public Safety Canada   View Slides
Mike Grimm, Assistant Administrator for the Risk Management Directorate within the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA)

Q/A

14:40 GMT     Panel 2: Case studies on the importance of good governance for understanding hazards/risk and the use of information in disaster risk reduction
Sonia Talwar, Director – Pacific Division, Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada (Chair)

Richard Robertson, Professor of Geology, The UWI Seismic Research Centre    View Slides
John Rees, Chief Scientist, British Geological Survey (BGS)
Daniela Di Bucci, Structural Geologist, International Relations and Activities Unit of the Italian Civil Protection Department (Presidency of the Council of Ministers)   View Slides
Jethro B. Capino, Geologist, Department of Environment and Natural Resources - Mines and Geosciences Bureau (DENR-MGB), the Philippines
Liza Socorro Manzano, Chief Geologist at DENR-MGB   View Slides

Q/A

15:55 GMT     Closing
Sonia Talwar, Director – Pacific Division, Geological Survey of Canada, Natural Resources Canada

Part II: The Science and Technology: Advancing methods, tools, and capabilities in hazard and risk assessment
13 February 2023  16.00 - 19.00 GMT

   View presentations and discussion session

16:00 GMT     Welcoming remarks from WCOGS- US Geological Survey (USGS)
William Cunningham, Director, Office of International Programs, USGS

16:05 GMT     Overview of the Global Earthquake Model and the lessons learned about partnerships at local, national, regional and global level
John Schneider, Secretary General, Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation (Global)   View Slides

16:35 GMT     Panel 3: Advancing methodologies for Multi-hazard and systemic risk assessment
Phil Hill, Emeritus Geoscientist (Former Director of the Geological Survey of Canada Pacific Division) (Chair)

Héctor Pérez, Seismic Risk Engineer & Assistant Professor of Structural Engineering, Colombia Geological Survey
David Wald, Supervisory Research Geophysicist, USGS
Mark Edwards, Director, the Vulnerability, Resilience and Mitigation Section, Geoscience Australia   View Slides
Chesley Williams, Senior Director, Product Management, Risk Management Solutions, USA

Q/A

17:45 GMT     Panel 4: Partnerships and good governance for advancing hazard and risk assessments
John Schneider, Secretary General, Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation (Chair)

Susan Loughlin, Volcanology Team Leader, British Geological Survey (BGS)
Masyhur Irsyam, Professor of Geotechnical Engineering, Bandung Institute of Technology, Indonesia
Yoshihiro Ishizuka, Volcanologist, Japan Geological Survey   View Slides
Helen Crowley, Seismic Risk Consultant, EUCENTRE, Italy

Q/A

18:55 GMT     Closing
William Cunningham, Director, Office of International Programs, US Geological Survey

Part III: The Risk Management Goal: How GSOs can support awareness and advocacy, enhancing building codes, early warning systems, and local level resilience planning
20 February 2023  03.00 - 06.00 GMT

   View presentations and discussion session

3:00 GMT     Welcoming remarks from WCOGS- GNS Science
Gill Jolly, Natural Hazards and Risks Theme Leader, GNS Science, New Zealand

3:05 GMT     Global tsunami early warning program and its cross-jurisdiction approach
Denis Chang Seng, Programme Specialist Ocean Science, Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission (IOC) of UNESCO

3:15 GMT     The evolution of earthquake building codes and recommended approaches for advancing building codes
Tuna Onur, Earthquake Hazard and Risk Consultant, Onur Seemann Consulting

Q/A

3:35 GMT     Panel 5: Sharing experiences supporting development of DRR strategies, policies, and programs
(Awareness and information sharing, Building codes, Risk financing, DRR planning)
Steve Hill, Chief Scientist, Geoscience Australia (Chair)

Nick Horspool, Senior Risk Scientist at GNS Science, New Zealand
Iswandi Imran, Professor in the Faculty of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Bandung Institut Teknologi, Indonesia
Jorge Crempien, Assistant Professor at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile
Leigh Wolfrom, Policy analyst, Directorate for Financial and Enterprise Affairs, OECD   View Slides

Q/A

4:45 GMT     Panel 6: Sharing experiences supporting development of DRR strategies, policies, and programs
(Advancing Building codes, Land use planning, and early warning systems)
Kate Moran, President, Oceans Network Canada (Chair)

Maria Przyłucka, Chief specialist in geohazards and engineering geology, Polish Geological Institute – National Research Institute
John Londoño, Technical Director of Geohazards, Colombia Geological Survey
Atalay Ayele, Professor and Director of Institute of Geophysics, Space Sciences and Astronomy (IGSSA), Addis Ababa University, Ethiopia
Andrew Tupper, Principal Consultant, Natural Hazards Consulting, Australia   View Slides

Q/A

5:55 GMT     Closing
Gill Jolly, Natural Hazards and Risks Theme Leader, GNS Science, New Zealand

Register for the forum

The webinar is organized through an informal partnership between the World Community of Geological Surveys (WCOGS), the Global Earthquake Model Foundation, the Geological Survey of Canada, and GNS Science (New Zealand).

Sage On Earth Consulting supports the organizing team with the background research and design of the sessions. The American Geosciences Institute is providing the online hosting platform and support for the webinar.