Initiatives in Focus Session: Test-driving a Rapid Damage Assessment Methodology for British Columbia Earthquakes
November 3, 9-11am
Convened by Tiegan Hobbs (NRCan)
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NRCan and GeoBC present a new initiative to develop a rapid disaster model for earthquakes in British Columbia (BC). We will explore best practice and the feasibility of using rapidly available seismic data in the existing OpenQuake Canada framework to report on key metrics for early response: collapsed buildings, entrapment injuries, hospital demand surge, roadway debris which may block response, and immediate mass care needs like shelter requirements. These indicators, which would likely available within an hour of the earthquake, will be ported to the GeoBC Common Operating. Picture, the online portal for authoritative and coordinated distribution of emergency management information in the province.
Understanding Risk (UR) BC 2020 (www.urbc.ca) is an online, collaborative symposium and event series that will foster place-based risk reduction strategies to proactively enhance resilience and improve disaster recovery pathways in BC.
URBC 2020 will feature online events from summer to fall- 2020:
- Summer Webinars: Hear from local and international experts on the holistic understanding of disaster impacts
- Pre-symposium Workshops: Interactive sessions to learn and contribute to understanding risk in BC
- Launch Events: September and November sessions that merge art, knowledge, practice and policy to share key updates, and offer a sneak-peek at upcoming themes and sessions.
- Initiatives-in-focus Workshops: Step into the shoes of leading practitioners and policy makers in BC to wrestle with emerging issues that aim to reduce disaster risk and build resilience
- Dialogue Panels: Tune into exciting conversations that examine key tensions, challenges and opportunities to improve disaster recovery pathways in BC
- Closing: Connect, reflect, celebrate and initiate next steps
Event Objectives
- Reporting on progress of actionable strategies and outcomes from previous and ongoing UR Symposiums as well as related DRR/CCA efforts
- Demonstrate components of the BC Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) Hub, identify opportunities for its short-term priorities and advance its long term financial and governance model
- Advance essential and non-traditional partnerships across the science-policy-action interface to reduce risk and build resilience
- Make connections across projects and initiatives towards enhanced collaboration and reduced duplication
- Support advancement and implementation of existing recommendations and commitments that have been made in BC and Canada in relation to climate and disaster risk management by fostering generative dialogue across disciplines and cultures