Seoul, May 28-29, 2013 – Building on a successful workshop held in Jakarta in 2012, policy-makers from eight East Asian countries re-united from 28 to 29 May 2013 in Seoul at the Second Flood Risk Management and Urban Resilience Workshop.

The two-day workshop, organized by the World Bank, with support of the Republic of Korea through the National Emergency Management Agency and the Global Facility for Disaster Reduction and Recovery (GFDRR), is part of ongoing collaboration to strengthen cooperation, and facilitate international partnerships for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation.

Presenting case studies and project examples, the participations shared their experience in balancing structural and non-structural flood risk management measures, focusing on flood risk information collection and sharing, community-based risk management approaches, and developing effective early warning systems, to better prepare and manage existing and future flood risks facing fast-growing Asian cities. The policy-makers also visited the Control Center of the Korean National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and the national disaster risk reduction exposition to learn about innovative approached in flood control and disaster prevention.

Attended by over 70 policy-makers from China, Indonesia, Korea, Lao PDR, Mongolia, the Philippines, Vietnam, and Sri Lanka, international experts from the field of urban flood risk management and representatives from partner and donor organizations, the workshop facilitated regional knowledge transfer and fostered a multi-stakeholder community of practice on urban flood risk management.

The workshop presentations can be downloaded here in PDF format:

Session 1: Balancing Structural and Non-structural Measures in Flood Risk Management - An Overview

• Mr. Kees Bons, Deltares, Overview of balancing structural and non-structural measures in flood risk management

• Dr. Ho Long Phi, Ho Chi Minh City Flood Control Center, Vietnam, Balanced flood risk management in HCMC

• Dr. Hitoshi Baba, Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA), Comprehensive Flood Risk Management strategy

Session 2: Challenges for Making Flood Risk Data Widely Accessible to Stakeholders

• Mr. Edi Junaedi Harahap and Mr. Ery Boswaro, Jakarta Disaster Management Office, Indonesia, Participatory Mapping to fill data gap for better flood information management in Jakarta (Presentation 1 and Presentation 2)

• Dr. Cheong Tae Sung, National Disaster Management Institute (NDMI), National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), Korea, Effective Flood Risk Assessment Methodologies

Session 3: Reducing Flood Risk Losses and Enhancing Resilience - Innovative Approaches

• Mr. Kees Bons, Deltares, Ecosystems-based approaches

• Minister Rogelio L. Singson and Deputy Minister Rafael C. Yabut, Department of Public Works and Highways, the Philippines, Metro Manila Integrated Flood Risk Management

• Mr. Narayanage Dinusha Prabhath Ransara, Ministry of Defense and Urban Development, Sri Lanka, Sri Lanka’s experiences and key lessons learnt and challenges for moving forward the Metro Colombo Flood Risk Assessment

Session 4: Reducing Flood Risk Losses and Enhancing Resilience” - Community-based Approaches

• Mr. Hilton Hernando, Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical & Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) and Mr. Olaf Neussner,Disaster Risk management, GIZ, Community involvement and local flood early warning with low-tech approaches for small rivers in the Philippines

• Mrs. Dondmaa Enebish, Ministry of Construction and Urban Development, Mongolia, Reduction of Flood Risk in Ulaanbaatar City

• Dr. WooSuk Han,Korea Research Institute for Human Settlements (KRIHS), The urban disaster prevention strategy preparing with climate change

Session 5: Flood Risk Early Warning System, Monitoring, and Control System

• Dr. Chulkyu Lee, National Institute of Meteorological Research, Korea Meteorological Administration, Development of Hydro-meteorological information Monitoring and Prediction Tech. for supporting of Flood Warning System

• Ms. Virana Sonnasinh, Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment, Lao PDR, Early Warning System in Lao PDR

• Ms. Yang Fen, Beijing Institute of Water and Ms. Wang Jing, Ministry of Water Resources (MWR), China, State flood control system and lessons learnt from the institutional/operational perspective

Session 6: Implementing Change

• Mr. Ir. Guratno Hartono, Ministry of Public Works, National Community Empowerment Program

Site Visit: Emergency Management

• Republic of Korea National Emergency Management Agency: Disaster Situation Control in the Republic of Korea - The Operations and Systems

Content and photos courtesy of the World Bank East Asia and Pacifice Disaster Risk Management and GFDRR teams. For more information, please contact Christina Irene at cirene@worldbank.org.