The 2nd International Alumni Online Seminar on Disaster Prevention and Environment was held online on March 7th, 2022 (Organizer: Center for Local Disaster Prevention and Mitigation (CLDPM), Yamaguchi University, Co-organizers: Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering, Yamaguchi University, and Glocal Environmental and Disaster Prevention Research Group, Yamaguchi University), and was attended by 64 people from seven countries: Afghanistan, Bangladesh, China, Indonesia, Japan, Timor-Leste (East Timor) and Vietnam. The seminar aims to share the recent activities of alumni, and to provide a place for interaction among alumni from various countries and students at Yamaguchi University. It also focuses on sharing local disasters and environmental problems and creating opportunities for international research cooperation. It was held for the second time following March last year.

The seminar consisted of three parts: an invited lecture, a special session on flood and geological disaster in Timor-Leste in April 2021, and an oral presentation session by Yamaguchi University students and graduates. In the invited lecture (chaired by Assoc. Prof. Koichi Yamamoto, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering / CLDPM), Prof. Masato Shinji, Vice-President for International Cooperation, Yamaguchi University, gave a lecture on the current state of international cooperation at Yamaguchi University and the future prospects under the coexistence of COVID-19. Prof. Ikufumi Tomimoto, Deputy Director, Office for International Affairs Strategy, Yamaguchi University, gave a lecture on the relationship between SDGs and disaster prevention targets and indicators, introducing that the damage caused by natural disasters and the destruction of the environment is more serious for vulnerable groups.

At the special session on flood and geological disaster in Timor-Leste in April 2021 (chaired by Prof. Masahiko Sekine, Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering, Faculty of Engineering), Dr. Benjamim Hopffer Martins and Mr. Hugo Ximenes, Lecturers, Universidae Nacional Timor Lorosa'e, and Mr. Oktoviano Viegas Tilman, Vice-president, Institute of Petroleum and Geology (IPG), gave lectures on the damage last year, the response after that, and the damage caused by the heavy rain after that.

In the oral presentation session by Yamaguchi University students and graduates (chaired by Assoc. Prof. Koichi Yamamoto and Mr. Taichi Ishimaru, Ph. D. Student, Graduate School of Sciences and Engineering for Innovation), two current students including an international student who could not come to Japan due to the influence of the COVID-19 and 5 graduates who are active in their own country, made presentations related to disaster prevention and the environment, and there was a lively question and answer session with the participants.

It was a meaningful seminar where graduates, current students, faculty members, and other participants who are active in the fields of disaster prevention and the environment in each country could share their problems with each other.

See below the program of the seminar.

https://ds0n.cc.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/~cldpm/pdf/20220307program.pdf

Center for Local Disaster Prevention and Mitigation Website：

https://ds0n.cc.yamaguchi-u.ac.jp/~cldpm/index_eng.html