2011 International Workshop for Urban Development and Renovation Based on Seismic Risk Ankara İstanbul TURKEY

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International workshop for urban development and renovation based on seismic risk in Middle East North Africa (MENA) region: (30 November-4 December, 2011 - Turkey)
First day of the workshop, presentations made by selected participants during morning session at  METU  Cultural and Conventional Center.
Welcoming Addresses:
Burcak Basbug Erkan, Director METU Disaster Management Centre
Yasuo Tanaka, Director Kobe University RCUSS
Polat Gulkan, Head of Civil Engineering Dept. Cankaya University
Akio Saito, JICA Chief Representative
Participants:
Kambod Amini Hosseini, Zafar Shah, Sebnem Duzgun, Lamia Ali
http://www.jica.go.jp/turkey/english/office/topics/news111201.html

In the afternoon, the group visited the Earthquake Directorate of Turkish Disaster and Emergency Preparedness Authority and the Turkish Red Crescent. JICA Alumni kindly hosted a dinner in the evening.

On the second day, a field trip to Kaynaşlı-Düzce is organised to observe the recovery process after the 1999 EQ. Ms. Tezgider presented this process, mentioning the difficulties the people had gone through and touching on how they were affected psychologically. She talked about what to do or not, to help people handle starting a new life. She also underlined the methods which must be followed by the government for this purpose. After highlighting that education is vitally important in disaster situations, she informed us about their projects as NGO to overcome the educational problems in the town. Having discussed the subject and exchanged ideas, the group left Kaynaşlı and headed to İstanbul.

On the third day, Istanbul Seismic Mitigation and Emergency Preparedness Project (İSMEP) office is visited. After the introduction of the project, a study tour is organised to Vatan Lisesi, a highschool that is being strengthened at that moment.

In the afternoon of the same day, the MENA participants had a closed group meeting. The conclusion of the workshop is to continue the network, which has been established among the JICA ex-participants on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) courses. We already have a mini-platform on DRR activities. This platform will continue collaboration. The guideline for urban seismic risk reduction in MENA region that has been prepared with the work of Dr. Kambod Amini of Iran,  will be improved by the revisions/additions of MENA group members.