GSAIS hosts international symposium on disasters and human survivability (21-22 November 2016)

发表日期

2017/02/07

On 21-22 November, the Graduate School of Advanced Integrated Studies in Human Survivability (GSAIS, or "Shishu-Kan") hosted the Fifth International Symposium on Human Survivability, focusing on "Disasters and Human Survivability: Enhancing Resilience to Risks Threatening the Future of Humanity", in Inamori Hall at Shiran Kaikan.

With presentations by faculty and researchers from the University of Cambridge, Macquarie University, Hitotsubashi University, and Kyoto University, the two-day event sparked lively discussion among scholars with widely diverse research interests, such as cosmology, earthquakes, history, pathology, economics, and business administration.

The Symposium opened with remarks by Dr Masao Kitano, executive vice-president for education, information infrastructure, and evaluation, and also GSAIS Dean Shuichi Kawai. They were followed by Dr Shahar Avin and Mr Julius Weitzdoerfer of the University of Cambridge jointly delivering a keynote lecture on "A Classification of the Risks Threatening the Future of Humanity".

Three sessions followed, each comprised of two presentations: "What lies ahead? The risks of extreme disasters (high-impact, low-probability events) in the future", "What can we learn from the history of extreme disasters?", and "How to enhance resilience to extreme disasters from the perspective of economics and management".

The two days of discussion wrapped up with a panel session on "Enhancing Resilience to Risks Threatening the Future of Humanity".

The program also included oral and poster presentations by GSAIS students, held on day two.

The symposium attracted around 100 attendees, including students and faculty from GSAIS, other KU academic units, and elsewhere, many of whom actively took part in Q&As and contributed to the event's success.