United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs

21 October 2008 - On 13-15 October 2008, over a hundred international experts and decision-makers from over forty countries gathered at the UN Campus in Bonn to participate in the Second United Nations International UN-SPIDER Bonn Workshop: "Disaster Management and Space Technology - Bridging the Gap." At the Workshop, the delegates were enthusiastic about the first preview of the UN-SPIDER "Knowledge Portal," a web-based platform for knowledge exchange and communication. Throughout the remainder of the workshop, the delegates contributed additional improvements to the Knowledge Portal and joined "Core Groups" to continue these discussions even after the close of the workshop. The Workshop also stressed the importance of vulnerability and risk assessment, early warning stystems, and health aspects in the context of disasters.
Those in attendance included experts from international organizations such as OCHA, UNHCR, and WFP; and regional organizations such as the European Commision. Many space agencies and national civil protection agencies were present, including those from China, Europe, India, Iran, Nigeria, Ukraine, and the United States. The Workshop was organized by the United Nations Office for Outer Space Affairs (UNOOSA) and the German Aerospace Center (DLR), with support from the International Strategy for Disaster Reduction - Platform for the Promotion of Early Warning (ISDR/PPEW) and the United Nations University - Institute for Environment and Human Security (UNU-EHS).

3 October 2008 - Over 50 decision makers and senior experts from disaster management and space technology communities from 17 Pacific Island countries and neighbouring regions gathered in Suva, Fiji, from 16 to 19 September 2008, for a UN-SPIDER regional workshop. The workshop was organized in cooperation with the Pacific Islands Applied Geoscience Commission ( SOPAC) and UNESCAP.
Many disaster management offices on the Pacific islands have only extremely limited resources available in terms of man power and financial resources. The islands are far from each other, and many islands do not have populations big enough to allow the maintenance of costly infrastructure. In the case of disaster, help may be thousands of miles away and take days to arrive. Identifying vulnerable populations in advance, monitoring hazards to be able to warn early enough, be it an approaching cyclone or a slow-onset coastal erosion reinforced by global climate change, are therefore key to successful disaster management in the Pacific. Regional and international networking are thought to play a prominent role to make space-based information and technology more accessible in the Pacific region. The workshop participants were also invited to attend the launch of the Pacific Disaster Net ( www.pacificdisaster.net), a web-based portal that will help to link disaster management specialists and resources throughout the Pacific region.

18 September 2008 - From 8 to 12 September 2008, the "Spring School on Natural Disasters and Spatial Solutions for Disaster Management - Flooding" took place in Santa Maria/Brazil. The Spring School, organized by Campus Brazil of CRECTEALC and supported by UN-SPIDER, INPE/GEODESASTRES-SUL, GEO, PNUMA, and UFSM brought together 35 participants from 11 countries in South America. This year's course set focus on emergency response for floods, a major causes of disasters in Latin America. Young professionals from both disaster management and geosciences backgrounds exchanged their experiences and were introduced to new space-based approaches. Availability of free satellite imagery, specific techniques for image processing to detect flooded areas and the integration of field work, civil defense and the national health authority through geo-technologies were some of the topics covered. Course participants were enthusiastic when discovering how the integration of spatial information on flood events through common data protocols can lead to a better coordination and response delivery by civil defense and national health authorities.
During the Spring School, Ms Tania Maria Sausen, who coordinated the course, was awarded a silver medal from Civil Defense Brazil for outstanding research on geo-technologies for disaster management with her research group at GEODESASTRES-SUL.