A global review of disaster reduction initiatives - Welcome to the ...

North AmericaThe Natural Hazards Researchand Applications InformationCenter at the University of Coloradoin the United States wasfounded 30 years ago to"strengthen communicationamong researchers and theindividuals and organizations concerned withmitigating natural disasters". Its Natural HazardsObserver is a free publication publishedten times a year that provides current hazardsand risk reduction information, resource andinstitutional contacts, new publications,announcements, research initiatives and findingsacross the entire range of professional disciplinesand jurisdictional responsibilitiesBuilding understanding: development of knowledge and information sharinginvolved with risk issues, predominantly inNorth America.Copies of the Center's Disaster Research, an e-mail newsletter, the Natural Hazards Informer,a peer-reviewed series that summarizes currentknowledge in specific areas of natural hazardinterests, and many selected disaster-relatedInternet sites are all available on the Center'sweb site at www.colorado.edu/hazards. TheCenter also has an extensive specialized librarywhich is catalogued on the web site as well as awealth of material related to hazards researchand the mitigation of natural disasters. All titlesand the procedures to obtain the Center's manypublications are also available on the Center'sweb site.4There are many other noteworthy disaster risk management or hazard research centres in the UnitedStates covering different subject areas or specializations. As the subject reflects rapidly growing publicinterest and professional relevance throughout United States society, several new centres dedicated to variousaspects of risk management are being established. While many exist as part of a university or academicinstitution, others have been established as "charitable institutions", foundations, professional or scientificorganizations, NGOs or commercial enterprises. Practically all of them are engaged in theexchange and dissemination of information related to risk reduction and virtually all such centres haveweb sites and additional information materials. An extensive list of these many sources of hazard and disasterinformation, institutes for study in related fields and all of their contact information are available onthe Natural Hazards Center web site.An example of regional collaboration to publicize hazard and risk assessments to a wider public audiencecan be cited from North America. In 1999, the National Office of Critical Infrastructure Protection andEmergency Preparedness (OCIPEP) in Canada coordinated research with the National Centre for DisasterPrevention (CENAPRED) in Mexico and the United States Geological Survey (USGS) to producethe North American Map of Natural Hazards and Disasters. This comprehensive and informativeseries of maps drew on information from a number of existing sources and was published with very widecirculation by the American National Geographic Society * . The distribution of different natural hazardswas combined with population characteristics to provide a simplified picture of risk and vulnerabilitythroughout North America. Beyond the public education values served by the map, the joint exercise inproducing it was instrumental in initiating cross-border dialogue and the sharing of knowledge betweenhazard experts and national, state/provincial and local organizations with interests in supporting hazardawareness and risk reduction in the three countries.* The National Geographic Society, Natural Hazards of North America Map (Washington, D.C., July 1998).165