Please note that at the end of August 2009 I will be leaving the University,
and will be working for the International Institute for Environment and
Development (IIED). Please use the following email in future:

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Dear Bhupinder
thanks for circulating this. Its a really important issue, but it  
needs to be covered much more widely. The issue is not only located in  
psychology, and it is good that you are aiming at a multi-disciplinary  
approach. There is a long history of work on disaster perception in  
sociology and anthropology, which needs to be strongly represented.  
Many anthropologists would probably argue that the term "perception"  
is inappropriate, although many would agree about the problem that it  
is intended to interpret.

Last year ICIMOD hosted a very useful web conference on the role of  
"culture" in affecting people's attitudes to risk. This also brought  
in another key area, which is religion. The summary report is availble.

I published a paper last year that emphasises the importance of  
"culture" in understanding people's attitudes to risk - its just a  
starter to get the issue raised like you are, because in my view it is  
one of the most crucial aspects of disaster preparedness.

I hope to be able to attend,

good wishes

Terry Cannon
IIED Climate Change Group




Quoting Bhupinder Sehra <[log in to unmask]>:

> Dear All
>
> 1ST EPICENTRE- Joint Centre for Disaster Research (JCDR) International Risk
> Perception Symposium - Cities at Risk: Living with Perils in the 21st Century
>
> To be held on Monday 26th October 2009
> Venue: Old Refectory, University College London
>
> Over the last few decades the world has seen an increasing rate of natural
> disasters, mainly impacting upon cities.  Despite growing efforts to
> reduce the
> risk, disaster losses have continued to accelerate.  This has highlighted the
> need to improve our understanding of the contributors to risk in communities,
> and the factors that shape vulnerability and resilience. Risk perception
> concerning natural hazards is affected by issues including personal
> experience,
> perceived vulnerability of built environment, governance and social
> structure,
> and can influence what people do to prepare for and during a natural hazard
> event. To date research in this area has been conducted primarily within the
> discipline of psychology and has been region specific.
>
> This conference will bring together psychologists, other social
> scientists and
> engineers working on disasters to discuss risk perception research
> on a multi-
> national and multi-disciplinary scale. Speakers from New Zealand, Japan,
> Turkey and the UK will discuss their experience in risk perception
> research. In
> particular the UK researchers will speak of a multi-nation study they are
> carrying out, which involves interactions with engineers.
>
> The Symposium aims to explore the challenges faced by multi-cultural studies
> of risk perception and the challenges of working across disciplines, with the
> aim of identifying key gaps in knowledge and collaborative research that may
> bridge these gaps.
>
> Confirmed speakers include: Prof. Nuray Karanci (Middle East Technical
> University, Turkey), Prof. Katsuya Yamori (Kyoto University, Japan), Dr David
> Johnston (JCDR, New Zealand), Dr John Twigg (UCL, Aon-Benfields UCL Hazard
> Research Centre), Dr Helene Joffe (UCL, Psychology), and Dr Tiziana Rossetto
> (UCL, Civil Environmental and Geomatic Engineering).
>
> If you would like to attend please register your interest by completing the
> online form: http://www.cege.ucl.ac.uk/Home/epicentresymposium/registration
>
> Registration fee: £40
>
> We are also looking for sponsors for the event. Sponsorship packages cost
> £500 and include:
>
> ? 3 delegate spaces at the Symposium
> ? Single space delegate stand
> ? Inclusion of your organisation?s publicity materials at the Symposium
> ? Logos on all Symposium publicity material (brochures and EPICentre
> website ?
>  www.epicentreonline.com)
>
> Please do forward this to any other individuals who may be interested.
>
> Kind regards,
>
> Bhupinder
>
> Ms. Bhupinder Sehra
> Graduate Development
> Department of Civil, Environmental
> and Geomatic Engineering
> &
> Department of Statistical Science
> UCL, Gower Street,
> London, WC1E 6BT
> Email: [log in to unmask]
> Tel: +44 (0)20 7679 4428
> Extension 34428
>


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