The Second Session of the Chinese National Committee for Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR-China) was established in Beijing on February 2, 2015. Presided over by Prof. GUO Huadong, the meeting brought together over 50 experts and officials from a variety of organizations, research institutions and universities, including the China Association for Science and Technology (CAST), CAS, the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences (CASS) as well as the IRDR International Program Office.

On behalf of CAST, Director of the CAST Department of International Affairs ZHANG Jiansheng conferred the letters of appointment on members of the new session. He said that CAST has always been committed to promoting China’s S&T development by taking advantage of international S&T resources. He affirmed the active role of IRDR-China in advancing integrated studies of disaster risk in China, and called on its new session members to make fresh contributions to China’s disaster reduction through collective wisdom and interdisciplinary resources.

GUO provided an overview of IRDR-China in terms of background and work mechanism. He pointed out that IRDR-China’s mission is to deepen the philosophy of integrated disaster reduction, join hands with other disaster relief programs in China and develop a think tank for integrated research into disaster risk, so as to boost China’s research in the field, provide science service and support to China’s strategy of sustainable development and offer new thinking to integrated research of disaster reduction in the world.

Executive Director of the IRDR International Program Office Dr. Rüdiger Klein reported the progress of the four core projects of IRDR, its national committees and center of excellence. To promote the global effort of integrated disaster reduction, he advocated presenting China’s outstanding research findings to the international community through strengthening partnership with IRDR-China. Vice Secretary-General of IRDR-China FENG Qiang and Secretary-General of IRDR-China CHEN Fang reviewed the accomplishments of the first session of IRDR-China and made suggestions on the objectives and plans of the second session, respectively.

The 30-plus-strong new session is chaired by RADI Director-General GUO Huadong, and its members come from engineering science, technology and social science. Its secretariat is located at RADI.

It was decided at the meeting that task forces will be established to kick off the development of a think tank for integrated studies of disaster risk in China, which will present influential recommendations and strategic reports in the field and provide important evidence for decision-making concerning disaster reduction in China.

The launch meeting was followed by a symposium focusing on such topics as demand analysis of integrated disaster reduction, theoretical understanding and practical significance, environment risk analysis and management, disaster system complexity and integrated disaster risk prevention, and integrated countermeasures to address disaster risk. The participants held discussions on the current situation of China’s integrated disaster risk research, its difficulties and recommendations for future progress.

Co-sponsored by the International Council for Science (ICSU), the International Social Science Council (ISSC), and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction (UNISDR), IRDR is a decade-long global, multi-disciplinary approach to dealing with the challenges brought by natural disasters, mitigating their impacts, and improving related policy-making mechanisms. Its secretariat is located at RADI.