Experts tackle world's horrors

Evening Chronicle (Newcastle, England), Jan 13, 2007

Disaster experts from Tyneside are travelling to the Far East for a seminar in how to best prepare for catastrophes.

Northumbria University's Disaster and Development Centre is joining forces with partners at Kyoto University in Japan in a move which will lead to an unprecedented working relationship involving academics, senior fire officers and emergency planning executives.

Senior officials from Newcastle City Council and Northumberland and Tyne and Wear Fire and Rescue Services together with leading academics from Northumbria and Kyoto Universities, will attend a three-day conference in Japan looking at preparing for and managing disasters worldwide.

The event has been organised by Northumbria University with funding from the Sasakawa Foundation, the British Embassy Tokyo, The Daiwa Anglo-Japanese Foundation and Kyoto University. Speakers will discuss climate change and humanitarian aid, sustainable development and urban emergency management.