Annex 1 Capacity Building in Asia using Information Technology Applications (CASITA)
Inventory of needs and opportunities for integrating disaster mitigation in the curriculum of participating universities
SUMMARY
There is a growing recognition among the participating universities to introduce urban disaster management and mitigation concepts, tools, and methodologies as part of on-going academic curricula. Some of the universities have already undertaken some preliminary steps in introducing modules on disaster management and mitigation as part of on-going urban planning and related subject areas.
The GIS and RS capacities of the participating universities vary considerably from almost non- existent to sophisticated facilities. In general, broad needs can be summarized as: enhancement of technical capacity to use GIS, applications and introduction of newer technologies such as GPS in GIS; applications of satellite imageries in land use, hazard data analysis; latest software and applications to undertake various analyses; latest satellite imageries; continuous capacity building of staff members to be able to undertake various academic and research activities, etc.
The participating universities are keen to be part of the on-going CASITA project and hopes to share and learn from each other by engaging in dialogues with their counterparts.
The following description provides more details on each participating university:
BANGLADESH
1. Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology, Dhaka
The Bangladesh University of Engineering and Technology (BUET) is the oldest institution for the study of Engineering and Architecture in Bangladesh. BUET offers undergraduate, graduate and post-graduate courses as conducted by six faculties (Faculty of Architecture and Planning, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, Faculty of Engineering and Faculty of Mechanical Engineering).
BUET is also engaged in research and consultation through Bureau of Research, Testing and Consultation to make available the expertise, instructors and laboratory facilities to other organization of the country. Postgraduate research works are now among the primary functions of the university. All the departments carry out their own research programs.
The Department of Urban and Regional Planning under the Faculty of Architecture and Planning offers Bachelors and Masters degree programs in Urban & regional Planning. The disaster management courses are offered at both Bachelor’s and Master’s level. The BUET also has GIS and RS facilities.
URL: http://www.buet.ac.bd/
2. Khulna University, Khulna
Khulna University was established in 1987 to cater to the growing educational needs of the country in the fields of science and technology, life sciences, management and business administration, social sciences, arts and humanities, law, education and fine arts.
1 The Urban & Regional Planning discipline offers courses on disaster management. The university also has GIS/RS facilities.
URL: None.
INDIA
3. Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology, Ahmedabad
The Centre for Environmental Planning and Technology (CEPT), established in 1962, offers courses through its four constituent schools namely, School of Planning, School of Architecture, School of Interior Design and School of Building Science and Technology. The CEPT offers Masters and Bachelors programs in the field of Planning, Architecture, Interior Design Building Science and Technology. CEPT also undertakes training, research and consultancy services both within and outside the country.
The School of Planning, established in 1972, offers Masters programs in Urban and Regional Planning, Housing, and Environmental Planning and undertakes research activities pertaining to various urban issues.
The school has developed well equipped GIS (including Remote Sensing and Digital Image Processing), Transportation, Computer and Energy Laboratories. These laboratories have generated important environmental data based pertaining to the city which has been not only used for complementing the needs of other institutes like the local authority for monitoring the city environment. There have been elective courses offered on disaster management offered by the school.
URL: http://www.spcept.org
4. Indian Institute of Remote Sensing, Dehradun
The Indian Institute of Remote Sensing (IIRS) is a premier national institution under the National Remote Sensing Agency, Department of Space, Government of India for education and training in the field of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information System Applications.
IIRS conducts regular announced training programmes and in close contact with the most of the Town and Country Planning Departments existing in each state of India. It also offers courses on Environmental Analysis and Disaster Management. It plans to offer a Master’s degree program in collaboration with ITC covering urban disaster related issues.
The IIRS has excellent state of art remote sensing and GIS facilities.
URL: http://www.iirs-nrsa.org
INDONESIA
5. Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta
The Gadjah Mada University (GMU) is the oldest and biggest university in Indonesia comprising 18 faculties. One of them is the Faculty of Geography with four departments - Department of Physical Geography and Environmental Sciences, Department of Human Geography, Department of Cartography and Remote Sensing and Department of Regional Development.
2 Research regarding the application of RS/GIS for land use change, natural disasters, settlement areas, climate modeling is being conducted by the Department of Remote Sensing and Cartography. The University offers several courses on urban disaster curriculum. These courses include applied geomorphology for natural hazards, application of RS/GIS for hazards mapping, natural hazards management, urban hydrology, urban climate, and others.
URL: http://web2.ugm.ac.id, http://www.geo.ugm.ac.id
6. Institut Teknologi Bandung
The Institut Teknologi Bandung (ITB) was founded in 1959. The Department of Regional and City Planning under the Faculty of Civil Engineering is the oldest planning school in Indonesia offering undergraduate programs since 1959, master and doctoral programs since 1982.
The ITB has been offering elective courses on disaster mitigation as part of its academic programs. Besides academic programs, ITB also undertake various research activities.
The institute has RS and GIS facilities and it plans to undertake number of activities through its newly established Research Center on Disaster Mitigation.
URL: http://www.itb.ac.id/academics/index.html
LAO PDR
7. Urban Research Institute, Vietiane
The Urban Research Institute (URI) was established in 1983 under Ministry of Communication, Transport, Post and Construction. There are five divisions, namely Town Planning, Civil Engineering, Cooperation and Relation, Research and Monitoring, Personal and Administration. The institute is mandated to prepare land use plans and to conduct training courses at national level.
The institute has some basic GIS facilities but no skilled staff to use it and impart training.
URL: None.
NEPAL
8. Kathmandu University
The Kathmandu University (KU) was established in 1991 as an autonomous, not-for-profit, non- government public institution of higher learning. It offers academic and short-term programs through six schools: School of Management, School of Engineering, School of Education, School of Arts and School of Science.
An eighteen-month M.Sc. program in Environmental Science was initiated in response to the growing societal need for professional scientist capable of dealing with environmental issues in a variety of institutional, industrial and community contexts. KU is currently collaborating with a number of universities and other national and international organizations. The university also offers elective courses on GIS applications. The university is keenly considering offering courses on disaster mitigation.
URL: http://www.ku.edu.np
3 PAKISTAN
9. University of Peshawar
Established in 1950, the University has a number of Faculties in the areas of Arts, Science, Education, Law, etc. and research centers on Geology, Biotechnology and others. The University has GIS/ RS facilities and undertakes a number of academic activities employing GIS and RS tools. The students come from a wide range of disciplines learning to employ GIS and RS tools in their respective fields.
URL: http://www.upesh.edu/
PHILIPPINES
10. University of the Philippines
University of the Philippines (UP) was established in 1908 and currently composed of six constituent universities and one autonomous college – UP Diliman, UP Manila, UP Los Banos, UP Baguio, UP Visayas , UP Mindanao and UP Open University.
The School of Urban and Regional Planning (SURP) in UP Diliman is the country's foremost institution involved in the research and teaching of urban and regional planning. SURP offers diploma, masteral and doctoral programs in Urban and Regional Planning.
The UP has RS/ GIS capacity to undertake various studies using them in addressing urban issues. The UP is keen on developing urban disaster mitigation courses and integrating them in existing curriculum.
URL: http://www.upd.edu.ph/
SRI LANKA
11. University of Moratuwa
The University of Moratuwa is a state academic institution comprising faculties of Engineering, Architecture and Information Technology. As a result of collaboration with the Center for Housing, Planning & Building (CHPB) Sri Lanka, the modules on Disaster Management and Mitigation are being introduced and integrated by the Faculty of Architecture through the Department of Architecture, Department of Town & Country Planning and the Department of Building Economics.
The GIS and RS are included in all degree courses conducted by the Department of Town and Country Planning. In addition students are required to apply GIS/RS in the planning project exercise. A GIS/RS training program is also in progress to train staff of Urban Local Authority under the Sustainable Cities Programme. The Department also undertakes consultancies related to GIS application.
URL: http://www.mrt.ac.lk
12. University of Ruhuna
The University of Ruhuna is located at the coastal town of Matara about 160 kms. from Colombo. The University has six faculties - Faculty of Medicine, Faculty of Engineering, Faculty of Agriculture, Faculty of Science, Faculty of Finance and Entrepreneurship, Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences. The Department of Geography under the Faculty of Social Sciences conducts
4 both general and special degree courses in various fields. Such courses include Natural Disaster Management, Remote Sensing, GIS, Land Use Planning, Regional Development Planning and others. The Department is starting the conduct the courses in Remote Sensing and GIS under limited facilities.
URL: http://www.rhu.ac.lk
THAILAND
13. Asian Institute of Technology, Bangkok
The Asian Institute of Technology (AIT) was established in 1959 as an autonomous international institution empowered to award degrees and diplomas. AIT enjoys support by donors, governments, International agencies, foundations, business organizations, and individuals. The AIT consists of four main school programs- School of Advanced Technologies; School of Civil Engineering; School of Environment, Resources and Development (SERD) and the School of Management.
The Urban Environmental Management under SERD has started offering modules on disaster management and mitigation. In the past, the students have undertaken research projects and dissertations on topics relevant to disaster management.
The AIT has well equipped RS and GIS facilities.
URL: http://www.ait.ac.th
14. Chiang Mai University
Chiang Mai University (CMU), established in 1964, was the first institute of higher education in the north and the first provincial university in Thailand. CMU has seventeen faculties classified under three academic areas, viz. Health Sciences, Science and Technology and Social Science Faculties.
The Faculty of Social Sciences is involved in academic and research activities. The Faculty has undertaken a number of research projects, including natural resource management and GIS mapping. The Faculty also collaborates with “Northern Geoinformatic Space Technology Center”. The Center was established to serve as remote sensing database, provide consultation, training and research activities to both public and private sectors in the Northern Region and the countries nearby.
URL: http://www.cmu.ac.th
15. Prince of Songkla University, Hat Yai
Prince of Songkla (PSU) was the first university to be established in southern Thailand. It has grown considerably since its establishment in 1967 and is now a medium-sized, multidisciplinary institution, spreading over five geographical sites. PSU continually expands its academic, research and outreach activities.
The PSU has expertise in the fields of RS and GIS, disaster management and land use planning. The University already has developed an undergraduate course entitled Disaster Management which is scheduled to be offered to the students in the next year.
URL: http://www.psu.ac.th
5 VIETNAM
16. Hanoi Architectural University
Hanoi Architectural University (HAU), established in 1969, consists of five main faculties: Faculty of Architecture, Faculty of Urban Planning, Faculty of Civil Engineering, Faculty of Urban and Physical Infrastructure and Environment, Faculty of Postgraduate Studies. The HAU has established cooperation with a number of universities and international organizations in the fields of education and training, scientific research and other activities.
The HAU offers degree programs in urban planning. It has some basic GIS facilities which are not extensively used in its academic and research activities. Also RS facilities are not available at the university.
The HAU is keen on developing courses on urban disaster mitigation and start offering to students.
URL: http://www.hau.edu.vn
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