Hanoi, Vietnam – Sponsored by the British Council as part of the Newton Fund Researcher Links programme, the “Cascading Hazards Workshop: Developing A Coastal Megacity Catchment Observatory” will be held from May 21-25, 2018 at Vietnam National University, Hanoi. The workshop’s theme is to tackle the concept of cascading human-natural hazards in the context of a coastal megacity catchment and specifically within the Red River-Hanoi-Delta (RRHD) catchment.

Photos of the Red River basin (Internet source)

There are total 40 participants (20 each from Vietnam and the UK) including  representatives from Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment (MONRE), Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development (MARD) will participate in the workshop. All participants will jointly identify and prioritise a) the key couplings among natural- human hazards in the RRHD catchment, and b) the critical physical & socio-economic data needed to develop useful forecasts to stakeholders and the public of potential cascading hazards and impacts. The RRHD provides critical supplies of food, energy, water and socio-economic resources to a population of ~30m. The potential for loss of life and livelihoods in the RRHD is significant in the face of future changes to climate, sea-level, and land-management. Multiple coupled natural and human hazards and stakeholders means that hazards may interact and cascade through the system.

Topics of the workshot including but not limited to:

1. Examples of coupled natural-human hazards and the potential for cascading behaviour;
2. Dynamics of complex adaptive systems and emergence of group behaviour in the context of natural hazards;
3. Human behavioural and socio-economic process in the context of coupled human-natural and potentially cascading hazards;
4. Critical data needs: physical, socio-economic, and behavioural.

The outcome will include a strategy and roadmap for the development of a RRHD catchment observatory, new research skills and community in both countries, and a more accessible body of research expertise, data and tools.

(UET-News)