In order to enhance international cooperation in the field of Disaster Risk Reduction in Indonesia, the UGM Center for Disaster Studies (PSBA) will establish cooperation with the Higher Education Ministry of Education and Culture for the next three years, period 2012/2013 until 2015/2016. This collaboration was established after the UGM PSBA won a Research grant from the Japan Society Promotion of Science (JSPS) by raising the research theme “Developing Model of University – Community Collaborative Information Management for Evacuation Preparedness in Tourism Destinations: Case Study Kyoto-Japan and Yogyakarta-Indonesia”.
This collaborative research program was attended by 6 doctoral students at the UGM Faculty of Geography and a Young Research Assistant from the UGM PSBA who would leave for Japan for ten days, 3 to 12 October 2012. While eight doctoral students from Ritsumeikan University (Research Center for Disaster Mitigationof Urban Cultural Heritage, DMUCH) guided by Prof. Dr. Kanegae.
Prof. Dr. Sudibyakto, as the Bilateral Project Team Leader, explained that they would learn how the model developed by UGM in the Disaster Risk Reduction Program due to the Earthquake and the Merapi Volcano Eruption. The chosen locations are the Gede City Tourist Destinations, Borobudur Temple, and Parangtritis. “This research is expected to produce a Disaster Mitigation Guide for Tourists who are visiting tourist sites and areas that are potentially vulnerable to natural disasters,” said Sudibyakto at the UGM Faculty of Geography, Friday (31/8) explained.
According to Sudibyakto, this study will also develop how community participation around tourist sites can manage disaster risk, in various forms of activities. Among them are testing of potential disasters, compiling disaster-prone maps, communicating risks between actors and the community, compiling maps of evacuation routes, and managing disaster risks that will be faced. “The workshop for the preparation of research has also been carried out in the Panel Discussion Forum at PSBA, which took place on Wednesday, August 29, 2012, by presenting Dr. rer. Nat. Djati Mardiatno as a representative of PSBA UGM,” he explained. (UGM / Agung Public Relations).