UNU-IAS will co-organize an international symposium on supporting recovery efforts on Noto Peninsula in Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan following the 2024 Noto Earthquake. It will bring together international experts and representatives from municipalities in Noto and the Tohoku region to discuss ongoing reconstruction efforts and disaster prevention for resilient communities using a multi-hazard approach.

Drawing on domestic and international case studies, the event will explore the following topics:

Understanding of disaster risks (including risks posed by climate change and natural hazards, challenges faced by local communities and awareness raising)
Utilizing local resources for disaster prevention and reconstruction (reducing disaster risks by leveraging natural and cultural resources)
Establishing a model for disaster-resilient communities (domestic and international examples and models for sustaining the coexistence of satoyama and satoumi)

Participation & Registration

The event will be held online and in-person at the Kanazawa Bunka Hall in Kanazawa City, Ishikawa Prefecture, Japan.

To attend in person, please register by 19 March 2025. To participate online, please register in advance to receive a Zoom link.

Please note that participants in UNU events may appear in photography, screen captures, videos and/or audio (see disclaimer).

Language

This event will be held in English and Japanese with simultaneous interpretation provided.

Programme

Subject to change

13:00 – 13:10 Opening Remarks

Shinobu Yume Yamaguchi (Director, UNU-IAS)
Representative from Ishikawa Prefecture

13:10 – 13:55 Keynote Speeches

Current Status in Noto and Its Recovery Utilizing Satoyama and Satoumi Landscapes

Seiji Yanai (Specially Appointed Professor, Faculty of Bioresources and Environmental Sciences, Ishikawa Prefectural University)

Nature-based Climate Adaptation and Disaster Prevention/Mitigation (tentative)

Youssef Nassef (Director, Adaptation Programme, UNFCCC)

TBA

Eva Kraus (Director, Bonn Bundeskunsthalle (Art and Exhibition Hall of the Federal Republic of Germany))

14:10 – 15:45 Panel Discussion

Recovery and Disaster Preparedness for Resilient Communities: What Can Be Done in the Region Now to Prepare?

Moderator: Tsunao Watanabe (Visiting Research Fellow, UNU-IAS Operating Unit Ishikawa/Kanazawa)

Sayako Koyama (Researcher, UNU-IAS OUIK)
Takamitsu Haiya (Reconstruction Division, Noto Town)
Choichiro Ohno (Notohahaso Co., Ltd.)
Thomas Elmqvist (Professor, Stockholm Resilience Centre, Stockholm University)
Osamu Saito (Principal Policy Researcher, Biodiversity & Forests, Strategic Management Office, Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES))

Comments from the Ministry of the Environment, Japan:

Takuya Ishikawa (Director, Office for Circular and Ecological Economy, MOEJ)

Feedback Comments

Kazuhiko Takeuchi (President, IGES)

15:45 – 15:50 Closing Remarks

Xiaomeng Shen (Vice-Rector in Europe, UNU-VIE; Director, UNU-EHS)

Organizers

This event will be co-hosted by UNU-IAS, Ministry of the Environment, Japan (MOEJ), Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES), Japan Foundation for United Nations University (JFUNU) and Ishikawa Prefecture (planned). It will be supported by (tentative) Ecology and Civil Engineering Society (ECESJ), Japanese Institute of Landscape Architecture (JILA), Japan Conference on the Implementation of the 2030 Biodiversity Framework (J-GBF), Keidanren Committee on Nature Conservation, Environmental Restoration and Conservation Agency (ERCA), AEON Environmental Foundation, Japan Society of Landscape Ecology (JALE), Environment Research and Technology Development Fund S21, Hokkoku Shimbun and Hokuriku Chunichi Shimbun.