The 2nd International Training Workshop on Space Technology for Disaster Mitigation was held in Beijing on the morning of June 3, 2014. Themed “Earth observations for Disaster Risk Management in Developing Countries: Scientific and Practical Approach”, the workshop was hosted by CAS-TWAS Centre of Excellence on Space Technology for Disaster Mitigation (SDIM), with the Institute of Remote Sensing and Digital Earth (RADI) as co-host. The workshop was attended by 20 participants from 18 countries, including Thailand, Mongolia, Kenya, Columbia, South Africa and Papua New Guinea. RADI Director-General GUO Huadong, Deputy Director-general of the CAS Bureau of International Cooperation CAO Jinghua and Head of Asia Pacific Office of UNISDR, Dr. Kan Fengmin were present at the opening ceremony of the training workshop and delivered speeches. The Executive Director of TWAS (the World Academy of Sciences for the advancement of science in developing countries) Romain Murenzi offered his congratulations to the event in a video speech.
In response to the needs of developing countries in disaster mitigation, the workshop is to provide scientific and practical guide to the participants to the basic data acquisition process of disaster mitigation using space technology, the principles and methods of space data processing for various disasters, the significance of space technology for disaster mitigation and its role in integrated disaster reduction.
To build up the capacity of developing countries for adopting leading space technology to tackle natural disasters, under the joint support of CAS and TWAS, SDIM was established in 2013. Hosted by RADI, the Centre believes that an important approach to addressing talent shortage problems facing development countries is to hold regular training workshops for their technicians and administrations in the field of disaster mitigation through advanced space technologies.
