Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction designated as an International Centre of Excellence

The Institute for Catastrophic Loss Reduction (ICLR) has been designated as an International Centre of Excellence (ICoE) by unanimous approval of the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR)’s Scientific Committee.

The designation, at a meeting in Qingdao, China on Wednesday, makes Toronto-based ICLR one of just seven ICoEs located around the world contributing to the IRDR program, said information from the institute. The other centres are located in Taiwan, the United States, South Africa, New Zealand, Columbia and Germany.

The institute’s ICoE proposal focuses on Disaster Resilient Homes, Buildings and Public Infrastructure (ICoE-DRHBPI) and will consider issues related to the construction of disaster resilient new homes and public infrastructure, as well as actions to retrofit existing structures.

One specific focus of the institute’s ICoE-DRHBPI involves trying to improve the lesson-learning program associated with previous disasters and capturing this knowledge in building codes and standards, the ICLR said.

Beyond learning from disasters, there is a growing capacity for research in laboratories – facilities that can simulate extreme wind, catastrophic earthquakes and other hazards, the information said. ICLR’s ICoE-DRHBPI will focus on the process of “transforming this learning into action by those who construct homes, buildings and public infrastructure.”

The institute’s ICoE will also work to identify actions to retrofit existing structures to enhance their resilience to local hazards. “Available research finds that significant enhancement in resilience can be added to new homes, buildings and public infrastructure at time of construction at little or no cost, but improving the resilience of existing structures can be expensive,” the ICLR said. “Homes, buildings and public infrastructure seek to provide service for a period of several decades, and some emerging research is assessing opportunities to modify construction and maintenance practices to enhance resilience.” [click image below to enlarge]

Centres of Excellence can be based on existing institutions focusing on disaster risk education, research and technical cooperation and are intended to operate as network mechanisms engaging other similar institutions in their region, country or city, the ICLR reported. Main roles of Centres of Excellence are to:

• Conduct integrated research on disaster risk at local, regional and global scales, meeting with objectives of four IRDR working groups;

• Provide specifically-designed technical cooperation on disaster risk and reduction management for policy and decision-making;

• Provide technical support for formulating regional, national or local disaster risk reduction programs based on integrated research;

• Promote IRDR research by conducting regular trainings, workshops or other activities for disaster managers, decision makers, and junior researchers;

• Facilitate and participate in IRDR events; and

• Contribute to disaster risk researchers’ network or platform.

In order to be designated as an ICoE, an organization must have: a good track record in, or commitment to, transdisciplinary research on disaster risk, combining social science, natural science, engineering as well as policy, etc.; unhindered access to researchers from participating countries and international visitors; proven multinational experience in research excellence related to disaster risk reduction; internal capabilities to manage multinational research teams; commitments to provide appropriate support, including funding and in-kind, for the national and international components consistent with IRDR objectives; and, fully-equipped office space and supporting services.

IRDR is a decade-long research programme co-sponsored by the International Council for Science, the International Social Science Council and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. It is a global, multi-disciplinary approach to dealing with the challenges brought by natural disasters, mitigating their impacts, and improving related policy-making mechanisms.