Title: Strengthening Disaster Research Response Globally: The 2022 DR2 Workshop in Seattle
By Dylan Williams
The University of Washington (UW) hosted the 2022 Disaster Research Response (DR2) workshop in Seattle . Sponsored in part by NIEHS, it was the fifth in a series of training workshops under the DR2 program to empower stakeholders and strengthen capacity when responding to disaster events. Participants included representatives from academia, the private sector, tribal communities, community-based groups, as well as government from the local, state, and federal levels.
Seattle as a Hub for Disaster Research
Seattle was a fitting host for the workshop, as the state of Washington experiences ever-mounting impacts of climate change, including wildfires and extreme heat waves. Also, the Pacific Northwest routinely faces uncertainty from earthquake risks, inland and offshore, as part of the Cascadia Subduction Zone (CSZ) . Tsunamis may result from offshore earthquakes.
The CSZ threatens the entire Pacific Rim and necessitates intergovernmental cooperation, among states and internationally between the U.S. and Canada, to fully understand the magnitude of potential disasters.
Global Partnerships in Disaster Research
The panel, moderated by UW’s Dan Abramson, Ph.D., included discussions from Shoji Nakayama, M.D, Ph.D., of Japan’s National Institute for Environmental Studies (NIES); Elizabeth Maly, Ph.D., of Tohoku University in Sendai, Japan; and Ashley Morales-Cartagena, Ph.D., of Pontificia Universidad Catolica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic.
“Community engagement is local, but it functions as part of global collaborations. National and international partners share and exchange information that help us work within our own regions,” Abramson said.
Research Collaborations and Partnerships
Nakayama, formerly with the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, and Richard Kwok, Ph.D., of NIEHS, helped shape the DR2 Resources Portal . Following the events of the Tōhoku earthquake and tsunami in 2011, Nakayama returned to Japan and saw an opportunity to work with his U.S. counterparts. This work included developing a repository of DR2 tools that had been translated from English to Japanese to enable communication at the community level.
Maly shared her experiences working alongside others as part of the Architecture and Urban Design for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience (ArcDR3) Initiative. ArcDR3 is a global cooperative of 11 universities from regions across the Pacific Rim with recurring risks of natural disasters. It established a collaborative research studio for conducting projects, inviting in peers from other institutions, and holding open forums to share research findings with the public.
Training for Disaster Response
Within these global networks, there is a need for training to ensure teams have access to the same knowledge and capabilities after a disaster event. Morales-Cartagena detailed how the Dominican Republic is a hotbed for natural disasters, which spurred the creation of the Centro de Investigacion de Resiliencia y Riesgos Multi-Amenazas (CIRRMA) as a multi-hazards research center in February 2020.
The panel emphasized that many nations lack access to the tools that benefit research institutions represented at the DR2 event. Nakayama highlighted that the outbreak of wildfires across the U.S. is mirrored in other parts of the world, including Thailand. The lessons communities in the Pacific Northwest learn from on-the-ground actions could be shared and translated to communities in the South Pacific. The need to facilitate these global relationships and prepare researchers now will grow as climate change continues to exacerbate natural disasters around the world.
Conclusion
The 2022 DR2 workshop in Seattle showcased the importance of global partnerships in disaster research and response. Through collaborations, training, and shared resources, stakeholders from around the world are better equipped to handle the increasing challenges posed by natural disasters. As climate change intensifies these events, the need for continued cooperation and knowledge exchange becomes even more critical. By fostering organic relationships and building trust over time, researchers can work together to address the complex issues surrounding disaster preparedness and response. Let us continue to strengthen these global networks and support one another in creating a more resilient and prepared world.
