ICHARM hosts the ICHARM R&D Seminars for its researchers and other participants to update and deepen their understanding of various issues regarding water-related disasters by bringing experts from Japan and abroad to lecture on the latest research and findings. The speakers at the 71st seminar held on February 14, 2024 were Professor YOSHIKAWA Minako Jen from the Center for Southeast Asian Studies (CSEAS), Kyoto University, and Associate Professor Faizatul Akmar ABDUL NIFA and Senior Lecturer CHONG Khai Lin, Universiti Utara Malaysia. The three experts are the principal investigator and co-researchers of one of the GCR Incubation Programs at CSEAS, “Improving Risk Communication in Water-related Disasters by Integrating Prevention of Mosquito-borne Infectious Diseases: A Case of Penang, Malaysia” They visited ICHARM as an academic exchange activity of the above research in the hope of establishing and enhancing collaboration with ICHARM, which the two co-researchers from Malaysia wished for years.
The seminar began with Affiliated Professor Yoshikawa providing an overview of CSEAS. Since its inception as a center established within Kyoto University in 1963, CSEAS has led interdisciplinary area studies. There are five research divisions: Cross-regional Studies, Political & Economic Coexistence, Social Coexistence, Environmental Coexistence, and Global Humanosphere. CSEAS has two research liaison offices in Southeast Asia (Thailand and Indonesia), and its library has approximately 270,000 books, one-third of which are in local languages, making it the largest scale in Asia.
Next, Associate Professor Abdul Nifa gave a presentation entitled “Post-Disaster Socio-Economic Community Empowerment: The Case of Kampung Iboi, Baling, Kedah, Malaysia.” She introduced the community-based reconstruction activities led by MERCY Malaysia, an international NPO. They were conducted in the Kampung Iboi area located along the Kupang River, where a landslide disaster occurred in 2022. Senior Lecturer Chong delivered a presentation titled “Bridging the Gap: Converting Flood Simulation Insights into Empowering Community Programs,” explaining how to utilize simulations produced by the RRI model for community-based disaster risk management.
After the presentations, the audience joined the discussion by questioning whether climate change factors are considered in the reconstruction plan, and commenting it is possible to promote local ownership in improving community disaster resilience.
Following the seminar, the three researchers, the executive director, and other ICHARM executives exchanged ideas and views about research on sediment-related disasters and internship opportunities at ICHARM.
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For your reference:
Visit the address below for more information about their incubation program at CSEAS:
"Improving Risk Communication in Water-related Disasters by Integrating Prevention of Mosquito-borne Infectious Diseases: A Case of Penang, Malaysia"