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On 21st August, SEEDS Asia was invited to speak at a symposium organized by the Nagano branch of the Association for Geological Collaboration in Japan (AGCJ) entitled “Natural Hazards and Disaster Risk Reduction in Nagano.”

The AGCJ is an earth science and engineering research group consisting of individual experts and organizations. They have extensively investigated the damage, mechanisms, and prediction methods of disasters, and shared their outcomes in the symposium. The group emphasizes that disaster research and risk reduction should involve not only damage assessment or identification of mechanisms, but also comprehensive approaches that entail the whole disaster management cycle and empower communities. Therefore, SEEDS Asia’s initiative in Nagano, particularly in disaster recovery and community development, was a contribution that SEEDS Asia made as a not-for-profit organization in the research field.

There were three presentations: “Disaster Recovery and Community Building after Typhoon Hagibis in 2019” by SEEDS Asia, “What Close Coverages of Disasters in the Community Revealed” by NHK (Japan Broadcasting Corporation), and “Disaster Reduction Lessons We Can Learn from News Reports” by the Nagano brunch of Mainichi Newspapers Co.

One of the approaches SEEDS Asia applies in the field is “Linking science and practice.” To prove this, SEEDS Asia’s project in Nagano is composed of a lecture series with a variety of resource speakers that can provide critical information that the residents of Naganuma district may need in community building and recovering from the impact of Typhoon Hagibis. Dr. Urabe, coordinator of this symposium, was one of the speakers of the series and his lecture made one of the residents say “Thanks to Dr. Urabe’s research and explanation, now I can look up to the future at last.” This was because his research was to answer the question “Why did the levees along the Chikuma river burst in that particular location?” yet not to invoke a conflict over “Who is responsible for the outburst?” This enabled participating residents’ research-informed acceptance of what has taken place in their beloved community.

Abovementioned example of ‘Linking science and practice’ was shared by SEEDS Asia’s Executive Director Mitsuko Otsuyama, and three requests were made to the participating science researchers in the symposium: 1) to share damage assessment after disasters with local residents; 2) to support us in the promotion of understanding of hazards (e.g., the narrative “Naganuma district is exposed to high flood risk because it is located in a low-lying area with its downstream a narrow section of the Chikuma river” could be further elaborated by exploring why there is such a narrow section, and why the land is low-lying. Researchers have a role to encourage children to have those questions, and help them find out why through observation); and 3) to support communities in discovering their attractiveness (e.g., Chikuma river is known as a dangerous meandering river that brought about a number of floods, which labels Naganuma as a ‘scarey’ place. On the other hand, birds, insects, fish and plants that live around the river, and the benefits that the river produces including beautiful scenaries, clean air, abundant soil and livelihood, are all worth the local children’s attention and observation which will for sure make them endear their community. This also greatly requires scientists’ cooperation.

The AGCJ was a great for expanding networks of people who are willing to support disaster-affected areas. We sincerely thank Dr. Atsushi Urabe, Professor of Research Institute for Natural Hazards and Disaster Recovery, for inviting us to the symposium.