The public forum event entitled “Lessons learned from recent water-related disasters in Southeast Asia ~How to save lives~”was held at the Kawauchi-kita Campus, Tohoku University on March 14, 2015.

The magnitude and the number of typhoon- and flood-related disasters are increasing recently throughout the world. Especially, water-related disasters in Southeast Asia such as the 2011 great Thai flood, 2013 Jakarta flood, and 2013 Philippines Typhoon Haiyan are remarkable events. Those kinds of disasters are expected to become more frequent and significant in the near future due to impacts of climate change and the urbanization and concentration of the population and asset in the basins and coastal areas.

The main objective of this public forum was to share the lessons learned from above mentioned events, including factors in magnifying the damage and common problems in the disasters, and propose future disaster prevention/mitigation measures.

Through the public forum, we confirmed, in those events, not only extensive hazards and regional vulnerabilities but also social problems such as poverty, disaster literacy, etc. were found to be among the main factors in magnifying the damages caused by floods and typhoons. Also, activities conducted and knowledge accumulated in Japan, Philippines, Indonesia and Thailand were shared through oral presentations and panel discussions.

From the public forum discussions, we concluded that a Community Based Disaster Risk Reduction (CBDRR) based on the disaster-related educations, trainings, evacuation drills, etc., will be necessary for future disaster mitigations in Southeast Asia.

> IRIDeS Fact-finding missions to Philippines