Bridgetown, Barbados, May 14th, 2014 (CDEMA) - Graduate students of the MSc Built Environment programme of the University of Technology (UTECH), Jamaica had discussions on Monday, May 12 with CDEMA staff on disaster risk reduction issues pertaining to their areas of study. The group of seven students are on a three island tour to Montserrat, Dominica and Barbados, to broaden their knowledge base in their course of study. Accompanying them are the Programme Director Mr. Laurence Neufville and Mrs. Jacqueline Douglas-Brown.
During their visit to the CDEMA headquarters, they were briefed on the role of CDEMA, hazards risk and the regional Comprehensive Disaster Management Strategy. Discussions were however focused on the link between development and disaster risk issues and the need to promote the engagement of the planning community, Climate Change and Disaster Risk Management actors to build safer and more resilient countries.
There was also a presentation on Geospatial Data applications for hazard risk which looked at some specific Caribbean examples in relation to the disaster risk management cycle (preparedness, mitigation, response and recovery). Illustrations were drawn from the Caribbean DEWETRA Platform which is managed by the Caribbean Institute for Meteorology and Hydrology. DEWETRA supports capacity development for Early Warning Systems, information dissemination, and institutional coordination for disaster management and response in CARICOM Member States. The platform is able to provide a sustainable network of realtime decision support centres to facilitate early warning and post disaster recovery and their integration into national and regional planning.
The students also had the opportunity to interact with Ronald Jackson, Executive Director of CDEMA. He said, “I welcome these opportunities where we get to speak directly to students and to provide that nexus between the textbook and the real world. We are also particularly pleased that UTECH included us on their list of agencies to visit. It certainly signals recognition of the importance of disaster risk management in the Built Environment programme.”
The presentations were delivered by Ms Donna Pierre, Coordinator of the Canada Caribbean Disaster Risk Management Fund (CDRMF) and Ms Kerry-Ann Thompson, Coordinator, Mainstreaming Climate Change in Disaster Risk Management in the Caribbean, Phase II (CCDM II) project.
The students will also attend the Caribbean Urban Forum (May 14-16) during their stay in Barbados.