The Understanding Risk 2024 (UR24) Global Forum is a testament to the more than decade of global knowledge partnership building led by GFDRR and the World Bank. Its mission is to drive innovations that can solve development challenges related to disaster and climate risk management. The theme of the Understanding Risk 2024 (UR24) conference, “Innovation, Resilience, and Tradition,” is inspired by Japan’s long history and ongoing efforts to build resilience against natural hazards and climate change. UR24 took place in Hyogo Prefecture, home to Himeji Castle, which has withstood centuries of natural hazards, including the 1995 Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. UR24 is seen as prelude to the upcoming 30th anniversary of this earthquake, and a poignant reminder for countries to build up their resilience to disasters.
UR24—led by the World Bank Tokyo Disaster Risk Management (DRM) Hub, which operates under the management of GFDRR—is the largest Understanding Risk Global Forum to date, with more than 1,700 onsite attendees from 135 countries, spread across over 700 organizations. UR24 also hosted its biggest expo ever so far for the Understanding Risk conference series, with 45 national and international institutions represented. The event highlighted the importance of integrating traditional practices with innovative solutions to enhance disaster resilience and underscored the global commitment to building safer and more resilient communities.
Opening ceremony. Photo: © Jorge Villalpando Castro / World Bank.
On behalf of Japan’s Ministry of Finance, Atsushi Mimura, then Director-General of the International Bureau (currently Japan’s Vice-Minister of Finance for International Affairs) welcomed the participants in his opening remarks at the opening ceremony. He shared Japan’s experience in revising its disaster management plans, building codes, and urban planning regulations in the wake of the Great Hanshin-Awaji Earthquake. He also stressed the importance of sharing lessons and collaborating with the international community to advance disaster risk reduction and mitigation efforts and acknowledged the forum as a vital opportunity for governments, international organizations, the private sector, and academia from around the world to come together to share knowledge, technologies, and policies on DRM.
UR24 sessions were held in various formats to cater to a wide variety of participants and interest levels. The technical sessions provided an opportunity to dive deep into topics as diverse as harnessing space-based capabilities for resilience, addressing gender-based violence in DRM, mobilizing private capital for resilient housing, promoting resilient transport investments through novel risk-sharing practices and public-private partnerships, bridging the infrastructure gap with innovative tools, and measuring extreme heat, among others.
The plenaries highlighted key advancements and challenges in disaster resilience. The discussions ranged from seismic protection, urban climate resilience, and financial strategies for DRM to the integration of nature-based solutions, the role of artificial intelligence (AI) in understanding risk, and the importance of financing for climate adaptation. The plenaries collectively emphasized the need for proactive DRM, effective communication, capacity building, and innovative solutions to enhance global resilience against disaster risks.
VR at UR24. Photo: ©Evandro Goncalves / World Bank.
The Focus Day events and study tours offered a longer exploration of key and emerging DRM topics around cities, resilient infrastructure, Digital Earth, and technology-enabled risk assessments. Activities included a visit to the Himeji City Municipal Emergency Operations Center, where participants gained insights into local emergency response strategies in Japan. Large-scale Focus Day events such as the Pacific Talanoa Hub underlined the importance of inclusion and transparent dialogue in DRM for small island developing states. These events provided a unique opportunity to combine technical learning with cultural appreciation, enhancing the overall conference experience.
Participants also experienced Japanese culture through calligraphy lessons, tea tasting, and traditional costume fittings. Networking sessions, meanwhile, provided opportunities for fostering relationships that could lead to future partnerships and ensuring that the momentum generated by the event translates into tangible impact. The expo area itself—which was built with the innovative Paper Partition System (PPS) developed by keynote speaker and Pritzker Prize–winning Japanese architect Shigeru Ban with the Voluntary Architects’ Network—was a testament to the theme of “Innovation, Resilience, and Tradition.” Originally developed for emergency housing and kindly provided by Hyogo Prefecture from their actual stockpile for emergencies, the PPS material was returned to the prefecture after the event for future use in emergency partitioning at evacuation centers; returning this material also contributed to making the event more eco-friendly.
After the event, attendees took home valuable lessons from the experiences shared by DRM professionals from all over the world. Beyond the insightful sessions and impassioned discussions, participants found renewed determination to apply these lessons in their respective communities. As the delegates departed, they carried not only newfound knowledge but also a profound sense of camaraderie, bound by a shared commitment to building safer, more resilient societies worldwide—a commitment that encapsulates the driving force behind UR24.