2016•06•14     Bonn

Well-managed ecosystems serve as natural infrastructure that helps protect people against disasters and climate extremes. Increasingly, hybrid approaches that combine both ecosystem services/functions and engineering solutions are being implemented to optimize disaster risk reduction.

The Partnership for Environment and Disaster Risk Reduction (PEDRR) is organizing its Third International Science-Policy Workshop from 14-16 June on the UN campus in Bonn. The workshop will focus on engineering and ecosystem-based approaches for disaster risk reduction (Eco-DRR/CCA). Bringing together experts from academia, research, the private sector, and policy , the international workshop aims to contribute to accelerating and scaling up the implementation of Eco-DRR/CCA in the engineering and planning communities.

The workshop discussions will be structured along key themes at the interface of “traditional engineering” and “Eco-DRR /CCA” type of solution exploring i) a spectrum of perspectives from engineers to conservationists; ii) existing ecological engineering standards; as well as iii) the way forward for the development of ecological engineering standards for DRR/CCA where gaps are identified. The workshop will also look at economic considerations when assessing ecological/ecosystem-based options, engineering options, or hybrid ecological-engineering options, and draw lessons from practical examples. In addition, participants will consider “best practice” examples where improved construction/reconstruction standards have been successfully mainstreamed in development and infrastructure planning.

The workshop is hosted by the Environmental Vulnerability & Ecosystem Services Section (EVES) of UNU-EHS and co-organized together with several PEDRR partners such as United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), Wetlands International (WI), The Nature Conservancy (TNC) and International Union for Conservation of Nature and Natural Resources (IUCN), in collaboration with Deborah Brosnan & Associates, and with the support of the European Commission.

To find out more about PEDRR, please click here.