On the sidelines of the ICSU General Assembly in Auckland, IRDR convened a strategy meeting of ICSU bodies. Facilitated by IRDR Executive Director R. Klein, the meeting heard a presentation by ICSU’s incoming president and IRDR founding chair, Gordon McBean, on the policy challenges facing DRR and the role played by ICSU and IRDR in leading the Science and Technology Major Group. ICSU Executive Director S. Wilson emphasised the positive results visible in the pre-zero draft on HFA2 which reflects an important appreciation of the possible contributions of the S&T sector to resolving some of the DRR challenges.

IRDR’s R. Klein called on the ICSU’s regional bodies to continue the good collaboration that is leading towards joint activities and better alignment of all regional research and science plans on hazards and disasters. ROAP executive director Mohd Nordin Hasan, in turn, called for a stronger and more visible role of the IPO in supporting coordination and fundraising. ISSC Executive Director Heide Hackmann requested a more visible and more active role for social scientists in the programme and associated science policy activities; IRDR Chair David Johnston reminded participants of the World Social Science RIA Fellows who had held successful research and agenda setting meetings and continued, collectively, to provide valuable input to science and policy processes in IRDR and beyond. IUGG secretary general Alik Ismail Zade explained the process that will lead to the drafting of an assessment of the best available science on hazards and integrated disaster risk research.

Science Council Japan president Professor Onishi, who is also a member of UNISDR’s Science and Technology Advisory Committee, explained the opportunities for showcasing and articulating the contributions of the S&T sector in the field of DRR on occasion of the Tokyo conference in mid-January 2015 and at the World Conference. He emphasised the need to reflect lessons learnt from research into vulnerabilities and resilience during recovery and reconstruction processes in the spirit of “building back better”.

For more news on 31st ICSU General Assembly, see http://www.icsu.org/news-centre/news/top-news/icsu-general-assembly-opens-in-auckland.