Increasing the Capacity of Higher Education to Strengthen Multi-Hazard Early Warning in Asia

The Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR) recognises the benefits of MHEW systems and enshrines them in one of its seven global targets: “Substantially increase the availability of and access to multi-hazard early warning systems and disaster risk information and assessments to people by 2030”. This chapter describes the activities and results from a three-year initiative to strengthen multi-hazard early warning (MHEW) for coastal hazards by developing the capacity of higher education institutes (HEI) in Asia. The CABARET project was established to promote international cooperation on MHEW at the regional level between HEIs in Asia and Europe, and among Asian HEIs. It involved a consortium of fifteen European and Asian HEIs from Bulgaria, Indonesia, Latvia, Maldives, Malta, Myanmar, Philippines, Spain, Sri Lanka and the UK, as well as three non-academic actors who provided a vital link to wider socio-economic perspectives. The consortium of HEIs set out to build capacity, foster regional integration and cooperation through joint initiatives, and share good practices. They also sought to strengthen relations between HEIs and the wider economic and social environment through a specific focus on coastal communities, many of whom are under severe pressure from planned and unplanned development, population growth and human induced vulnerability, coastal hazards with increasing frequency and magnitude, and the impacts of global climate change. This chapter describes the project’s efforts to better understand the research and innovative capacity needs across the Asian HEIs and to build their capacity to support the development of a more comprehensive, multi-hazard approach to early warning. The chapter concludes by examining the key achievements of the project, including an increase in innovation capacity and the promotion of regional cooperation.