December Group Updates

2015 International Conference on Building Resilience

Thank you to all who have submitted abstracts for the 2015 International Building Resilience Conference from 15-17 July 2015. We look forward to welcoming a diverse group of international delegates to Newcastle and we are pleased to announce that our keynote speakers will be Professor Kevin Hall (Deputy Vice Chancellor, University of Newcastle), Professor Makarand Hastak (Head of Construction Engineering and Management, Purdue University) and Dr Louise Brooke-Smith (Global President, RICS). The abstract deadline has now been extended until 5th January so there is still time to get involved! Click here to find out more.

REACT Network

Delegates from the University of Newcastle and Beijing Normal University are currently in Taipei for the second REACT Network event. There is a full schedule planned, including research collaboration meetings, studio-based consultations with students, formal seminars and community resilience field visits. Ming Chuan University will kindly host the visit.

5th World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, Sendai

Dr von Meding and Dr Gajendran will be attending the 5th World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction (WCDRR) in March as official delegates of the CIB (International Council for Building). CIB W120 Disasters and the Built Environment, the University of Newcastle and Loughborough University will host and facilitate a special public 'Built Environment DRR Research Forum'. The Forum will showcase research from around the globe that has supported the goals of the Hyogo Framework for Action over the past decade, informing the post-2015 framework with empirical and theoretical advances. A panel of international speakers will share a wealth of evidence spanning hundreds of research projects over the past decade.


Successful CAESIE Grant

A team from the group, led by Dr Gajendran, were recently successful with a proposal to fund collaborative meetings with a UK SME (Ostick & Williams Architects, Belfast). The meetings, hosted in Newcastle, will explore whether the development of a technological tool and operational framework for evaluating built environment resilience to flood events is possible within a digital environment. The staff from O&W will visit Australia in March 2015. 

Group Updates

ANDROID Doctoral School

Dr Mackee and Dr von Meding were recently invited to deliver a course on 'Overall Systems Resilience' as part of the 2014 ANDROID Online Doctoral School. This programme was run as part of the EU funded ANDROID network and saw several dozen PhD students engage with Jamie and Jason over a Blackboard Collaborate system. It was exciting to see young researchers so eager to explore detailed aspects of resilience in systems, and participants had many interesting questions leading to discussion with the presenters. Special thanks to Prof Srinath Perera and Dr Irina Shklovski for the invitation.


Project News

Two projects related to the Disaster and Development group were recently successful in receiving funding from the discipline of Construction Management at UoN. Dr Von Meding and his CIB W120 joint-coordinator Dr Lee Bosher will be undertaking a study entitled 'Forming Strategy for Resilience in Non-Government Organisations,' while Dr Michael Mak and Dr von Meding will investigate 'A Holistic Framework for Urban Resilience using Feng Shui Approach.' 

New PhD Scholars

The group recently welcomed Steven Crick, a Senior Environmental Scientist from Parsons Brinckerhoff, on board as a part-time PhD researcher. He will be investigating slow-onset disasters in the Hunter Region, particularly looking at DRR and climate adaptation policy. In addition, in the next month we are expecting full-time PhD students from both Vietnam and Italy to join the research group. The arrival of these researchers will bring the number of PhD students in the group to 5, further establishing Disaster and Development research within the University. 

Papers/ Conferences

The group will be represented at the upcoming CIB2014 conference, to be held at the Kandalama Hotel in Sri Lanka next month, by Dr Gajendran and PhD scholar Rafiu Salami. Rafiu will present his paper 'Deficient Housing: Development of a New Theoretical Perspective on Poverty Traps,' which outlines development of the theoretical framework underpinning his PhD research. 

Upcoming W120 meetings

This is a quick post to provide an updated meeting schedule for CIB W120 'Disasters and the Built Environment' to anyone who might wish to participate in our dynamic research network by linking up at a conference!

- IDRC 2014, Davos, Switzerland: 24-28 August 2014 

- 3rd World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, Sendai, Japan: 14-18 March 2015

- i-Rec 2015, University College London, UK: [dates TBC]

- Building Resilience Conference 2015, Newcastle, Australia: 10-12 September 2015

- World Building Congress 2016, Finland: 30 May-3 June 2016

In addition, please feel free to browse information on W120 or check out our LinkedIn Group! 

CIB W120 - Disasters and the Built Environment

A new CIB working commission was formally revealed today, W120 Disasters and the Built Environment. It will be my honor (Jason von Meding) to act as coordinator of such a dynamic research network. You can view the official newsletter release here. Dr Lee Bosher (Loughborough University, UK) will also act as coordinator of this Commission, and together we released the following statement through the CIB,

“As we move further into an age of rapid urbanisation and increased vulnerability to hazards, this commission will engage with some of the key dilemmas facing humanity. Considering the complex and highly volatile nature of disaster contexts, the commission will advocate a trans-disciplinary and culturally sensitive approach to research. To facilitate such research we aim to build a network of members spanning all global regions, bringing together academics, practitioners and leaders of business and communities.

We are delighted to build upon the rich research network and collaborative efforts initiated by TG63 over the past 6 years with the establishment of W120. We are confident that this commission can address the research agenda around ‘Disasters and the Built Environment’ in a significant way and provide a forum for cutting-edge research dissemination and dialogue.” 

The Commission will be working towards a series of objectives and outputs, and we would welcome new members or collaborators to get in touch.