Recently, ISC-GU-SC-DRR (The International Science Council GeoUnions Standing Committee on Disaster Risk Reduction) has held a working meeting at BUCEA. Prof. Orhan Altan, Chairman of the Committee, Prof. Sisi Zlatanova, and Prof. JIANG Jie, members of the Committee, and Prof. DENG Yang, Secretary to the Committee, attended the meeting.

The Committee was initiated and established in 2020 under the framework of the International Science Council GeoUnions by relevant international organizations. Its purpose is to provide service for disaster relief and reduction based on geoscience knowledge and support in developing the community with a shared future for mankind. The members of the Committee consist of senior experts in related international organizations, including those from the IGU (International Geographical Union), ISPRS (International Society for Photogrammetry and Remote Sensing), IUGG (International Union of Geodesy and Geophysics), IUGS (International Union of Geological Sciences), INQUA (International Union of Quaternary Research), URSI (International Union of Radio Sciences), IUSS (International Union of Soil Sciences), and IAU (International Astronomical Union). Its secretariat is set at BUCEA.

Since its establishment, the Committee convened nearly 20 plenary working meetings online, completed the compilation of six Policy Briefs, and released those briefs to more than 20 international academic organizations. In November 2022, the Committee and ISPRS jointly organized the International Conference on Geo-Informatics Supported Disaster Risk Reduction and Smarter Urban Management, attracting the participation of over 200 scholars from 11 countries and regions, published a collection of EI search academic papers, and organized special reports on related international conferences. The Committee is also compiling the typical cases of geoscience in the service of disaster prevention and reduction for publication.  

The Committee discussing the future development and formulating work plan in the post-Covid era during the working meeting

The members of the Committee visited the IRDR-IPO (International Programme Office of Integrated Research on Disaster Risk) under the Aerospace Information Research Institute of the Chinese Academy of Sciences during their stay in Beijing. The IRDR-IPO was an international scientific plan sponsored by China Association for Science and Technology, co-established by the ICSU and UNDRR, and based on the Chinese Academy of Sciences for conducting related work. The Committee and the IRDR-IPO decided to carry out pragmatic cooperation, jointly hold academic meetings, compile investigation reports and policy suggestions, and organize seminars and training on related academic research.

Visiting IRDR-IPO

The members of the Committee also visited the SDG Center (The International Research Center of Big Data for Sustainable Development Goals). It is the first international R&D organization to serve the 2030 agenda based on big data and was established with the support of the Chinese Academy of Sciences. The two parties carried out discussions over how to use SDG’s big data to serve disaster relief.

Visiting the SDG Center

Prof. Orhan Altan and Prof. Sisi Zlatanova discussing the sustainable development technologies for architectural relics with teachers and students of BUCEA