Media

HKU and BNU to organise Global Dialogue and Cadre Training: Rebuilding the Community after the Sichuan Earthquake

11 Nov 2008

The University of Hong Kong (HKU) and the Beijing Normal University (BNU) will join hands to organise cadre training and international dialogue on post-catastrophe community rebuilding in Sichuan this week - six months after the catastrophic Wenchuan Earthquake.

The week-long activities are organized with the support of the Experts Council of the National Committee of Disaster Reduction, Ministry of Science and Technology, Sichuan Provincial Government and municipal governments of the quake-affected areas, in partnership with various United Nations (UN) establishments in the Mainland such as the UN International Strategy of Disaster Reduction and UN Development Program.

During the week, about 80 cadres, who are the frontline leaders of the quake-affected areas, will attend a training workshop to share the international best practices of social capacity rebuilding of catastrophe affected communities and strategies to prepare for future disasters.

The training will be followed by a Global Dialogue with international experts on November 12, as well as site visits to the quake-affected areas. The training and the Global Dialogue is made possible by a generous donation by the Hang Seng Bank.

The "Global Dialogue on Wenchuan Earthquake Response: Challenges and Governance" aims to summarise the lessons and experiences of the 6-month rescue, resettlement and reconstruction works following the Wenchuan earthquake, to identify the future challenges, and to develop the strategies for catastrophe relief and preparedness.

In the Global Dialogue, government officials, academics, non-governmental organization practitioners and researchers from the Mainland, will share with peers and experts from Hong Kong, Taiwan, Japan, Australia, the Netherlands, Turkey, the United States and UN organizations on a wide range of topics. These include loss assessment, information sharing platform for disaster response, social management of quake-affected communities, societal participation in disaster, and global experience in catastrophe response.

International key speakers include:-

• Dr Walter Ammann, Chairman of International Disaster Reduction Conference;
• Mr Salvano Briceno, Director of UN International Strategy of Disaster Reduction;
• Dr Hiroyuki Kameda, Professor Emeritus, Kyoto University, Japan;
• Dr Muhitin Demrkasimoglu, Emergency Health Services of Disaster Relief Bureau, Turkey; and
• Mr Brendon Morris, Emergency Rescue Training of Holmatro, the Netherlands.

A 30-member HKU delegation, led by HKU Pro-Vice-Chancellor Professor Chow Shew Ping, comprising experts and scholars in social sciences, psychology, education, engineering, journalism and student development, will act as trainers, speakers and participants in the cadre training and the Dialogue.

Both HKU and BNU scholars would speak on a wide range of topics, such as-

• "Sichuan's community capacity rebuilding: A long-term plan on rebuilding normal life" - by Professor Cecilia Chan , Director, Centre on Behavioral Health, HKU
• "Rebuilding post-catastrophe education" - by Professor Cheng Kai-ming, Senior Advisor to Vice-Chancellor, HKU
• "Media analysis in catastrophe" - by Professor Chan Yuen-ying, Director, Journalism and Media Studies Centre, HKU
• "Loss assessment of Wenchuan Earthquake" - by Professor Shi Peijun, Vice-President, BNU
• "Psychological reconstruction assessment in schools" - by Professor Xue Yan, Dean, School of Psychology, BNU

The week-long activities are parts of the large-scale Catastrophe Management Initiative (CMI) launched jointly by HKU and BNU in July this year.

Since the catastrophic earthquake, HKU community has been engaged in not only raising fund for emergency relief, but also involved in various volunteering tasks that the University possesses expertise in. These include providing infectious control advice, geotechnical inspections, building reconstruction, psychological counseling, and counseling training for practitioners and trainers ... to name just a few.

A series of medium and long-term studies, in collaboration with BNU, are also in the pipeline on topics like readjustment and recovery of earthquake survivors, effects of relocation on affected students, experience of loss and grief trajectories of bereaved victims, and mass trauma intervention.

By synergising the strengths of the two universities, the CMI is a holistic and integrated project in Hong Kong and the Mainland aiming to address all aspects of catastrophe management, ranging from rehabilitation to reconstruction and redevelopment, at both policy and practice levels.

The two universities aim to build a knowledge base to support policy integration in all functional areas, so that catastrophe mitigation and management on the Mainland and the world in the future would be benefited.

For media enquiries, please contact Ms Denise Wong, Manager (Media) of HKU (Tel: 2859 2600 / E-mail: denise.wong@hku.hk)

Prior to the start of the Cadre Training on catastrophe reconstruction, guests officiate at the opening of the community service centre for the temporary housing areas of the earthquake-affected Jiannan Town, Mianyang, Deyang City. The guests are (from left):- Mr Liu Xiaofeng, Deputy Mayor of Mianyang; Chen Xinyou, Acting Mayor of Deyang City; Ms Betty Law, Senior Corporate Communications Manager, Hang Seng Bank; and Tan Yan, Party Secretary of Jiannan Town Government

Guests from Hong Kong and overseas join the Mainland cadres in their training workshop held at a school in the temporary housing area.

Mainland cadres attend training workshop at a school in the temporary housing area.