ARISE Japan Public Symposium 2021 showcases communities that embrace DRR as a positive part of their everyday lives

ARISE Japan’s annual event, “Creating disaster resilient communities by ‘going local’ in DRR,” was held online on 2 March 2021. In his keynote, Prof. F. Imamura of Tohoku University described how roads and railways in reconstructed Sendai City, built on embankments, now double as secondary tsunami barriers. “We are sharing learnings from Sendai, such as layered disaster defense, in discussions around global standards for DRR” he said.

In a panel led by Ms. K. Nakamura of Japan Construction Engineers & Co., speakers from three local communities – a World Heritage village (link 1); a seaside tourist town facing high tsunami risk (link 2); and a skyscraper-filled business district in Tokyo (link 3) – discussed how to build resilience through local resources and conditions. All embedded DRR into everyday activities and enhanced community ties by holding resilience as a common goal.

Mr. M. Takamatsu of Tourism Resilience Japan, ARISE Japan Lead, noted that communities generated confidence in their residents and visitors’ hearts through investments in DRR and resilience, and such confidence is key to risk-informed sustainable tourism and development, especially under COVID-19.