Innovations in Disaster Risk Management 2015

Course dates: July 13-17, 2015
Venue: Central European University, Budapest, Hungary

Workshop Information

Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) professionals from all over the world gathered at Central European University (CEU) in Budapest for a joint ISEPEI and UNDP "Innovations in Disaster Risk Management" workshop. Rastislav Vrbensky, the Director of the UNDP Istanbul Regional Hub for Europe and the CIS opened the workshop on Monday July 13th along with Margaret Bolter of CEU and course directors Viktor Lagutov (CEU) and Armen Grigoryan (UNDP).

The program offered a variety of sessions, including sharing of global experience on the use of information and communication technologies (ICTs) for DRR as well as hands-on geographic information systems (GIS) and remote sensing tutorials. Several other ICTs and innovations were covered, including big data, citizen science, smart cities, and open source software solutions for DRR applications.

Workshop faculty include several UNDP representatives from the Istanbul Regional Hub and Country Offices including Milica Begovic and Vasko Popovski, as well as Lorant Czaran of the UN Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA), Irina Makarenko of the Black Sea Commission, Jens Danzeglocke of the German Aerospace Center (DLR), Kirstin MIller of Ecocity Builders, and Matthew Sarsycki of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC), among several others. Participants represent UNDP Country Offices as well as government agencies, environmental organizations, and civil society focused on disaster management and risk reduction.

Workshop Directors

Viktor Lagutov, Central European University, Hungary

Armen Grigoryan, United Nations Development Programme, Regional Centre for Europe and CIS, Turkey

Workshop Faculty 

Lorant Czaran, United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs, Austria

Jens Danzeglocke, German Aerospace Center (DLR), Germany

Zsuzsanna Gabor, Academic Cooperation and Research Support Office, Central European University, Hungary

Hossein Kalali, International Consultant on Disaster Risk Reduction

Stanislav Kim, United Nations Development Programme Recovery, Early Warning Systems and Response Programme Specialist for Europe and CIS, Istanbul, Turkey

Irina Makarenko, Commission on the Protection of the Black Sea Against Pollution, Turkey

Kirstin Miller, Ecocity Builders’ Speakers Bureau, Oakland, California, USA

Arnold Nagy, Environmental Systems Laboratory, Central European University, Budapest, Hungary

Vasko Popovski, United Nations Development Programme, Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia

Milica Begovic Radojevic, Regional Centre for Europe and the CIS, United Nations Development Programme, Istanbul, Turkey

Additional Information

See the countries and organizations participants represented, the course program, and photos taken at the event!

Joint ISEPEI and UNDP Workshop Group Photo (credit Irfan Rana, participant)