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1.Introduction

The present volume, Disaster Reduction Technology List on Implementation Strategies, was prepared as a contribution from Japan to a Thematic Session in the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction, Kobe-Hyogo, January 18-22,2004. This chapter will describe the outline of the Thematic Session, and the purpose and the guidelines for development of the List.

1.1 The Thematic Session on Implementation Strategies in the UN World Conference on Disaster Reduction

Natural disasters are constant threats for both developing and developed countries. It is well accepted that while we cannot reduce the natural hazards, appropriate interventions can reduce risk and vulnerability of natural disasters. In both developed and developing countries, tremendous efforts on the research and development (R&D) have been exercised. However, recent experiences, including that of the Great Hanshin Awaji (Kobe) Earthquake Disaster of 1995, demonstrated that only research development for disaster reduction is not effective, as long as these are not implemented and used in practice. Thus, there is an urgent need to focus on how to effectively bring the results of R&D on disaster reduction into practice. For this, certain strategies and involvement are essential, which are termed as "Implementation Strategies" and "Stakeholder Involvement".
The reality tells that even developed countries that have accomplished high standard of disaster reduction technologies also suffer from severe disasters. Based on the past experiences in both developed and developing countries, following important and relevant lessons should be learned:

With these notions of the problem, A Thematic Session entitled "Implementation Strategies for Application of Research and Development on Disaster Reduction" was planned as part of Thematic Cluster 3"Knowledge, innovation and education to build a culture of safety and resilience" in the United Nations World Conference on Disaster Reduction. The Session has been organized by the Ministry of Education, Sports, Culture, Science and Technology (MEXT), Government of Japan In cooperation with National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Prevention, Japan (NIED), World Seismic Safety Initiative (WSSI), International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA), United Nations Education, Science and Culture Organization (UNESCO), and The Regional Disaster Information Centre, Latin America and the Caribbean (CRID). The Session organizers are Takayuki Nakamura, MEXT (nakamura@mext.go.jp), and Hiroyuki Kameda, NIED (kameda@bosai.go.jp).
The Session will focus on how effectively to bring results of R&D on disaster reduction into practice. It will be emphasized that "Implementation Strategy" and "Stakeholder Involvement" should be incorporated in R&D planning and activities. Discussion will be conducted on how to realize these concepts in R&D, innovate research communities, and enhance relevant science policies. Development of an implementation oriented disaster reduction technology list is also proposed as a practical action. On this basis, strategic orientations will be clarified and action plans be proposed for effective international collaboration in disaster reduction R&D.
The outcome of the session will be

The agenda and the program of the session will be:

1.2 Purpose of the Disaster Reduction Technology List on Implementation Strategies

In the course of discussion toward effective planning of the Thematic Session as described above, an agenda was raised by the officials at the Cabinet Office of Japan, in charge of overall coordination of WCDR on the Japan side, regarding possibility of preparing a catalog type document that offers information on available technologies that are capable of making international contributions to disaster reduction, particularly in developing countries. Based upon this initiating proposal, the MEXT group decided to develop a "Disaster Reduction Technology List on Implementation Strategies"(hereafter referred to as Technology List) that may work as a specific contribution to the Thematic Session from Japan.
As the period of time permitted for preparation was limited to six months, it was decided to make it a list of technologies developed under the leadership of Japanese researchers. While the resources are limited to Japan-based activities, it is hoped that it will be a good start of discussing the development of a more comprehensive and enhanced international list. With this notion, the design of the Technology List was intended so that it may be easily extended to a "World List."
The Technology List shall not be a simple catalogue of technologies that researchers want to advertise. Its primary target must be to compile technologies that were developed in international frameworks that are useful for practical applications in the multilateral environments.
The Working Group for Development of Disaster Reduction Technology List (Chair:H.Kameda) was organized under the auspices of the Office for Disaster Reduction Research, MEXT (Director:T.Nakamura). The Working Group conducted every necessary works for the development. To obtain substantial resources for Technology List, information was solicited from approximately __ Japanese research institutions who are engaged in disaster reduction technology development.
The Working Group discussion decided that the Technology List shall primarily be a collection of technologies that have been developed under international efforts with clear notions of implementation strategies and stakeholder involvement. In addition, it was also decided that information should be collected on disaster reduction technologies that have been indigenous to Japanese disaster situations but can be effectively transferred for disaster reduction in developing countries.

1.3 Guidelines for Development

In the questionnaire letter to the research institutions, a clear definition of "implementation strategy oriented research & development" was stated.
Implementation Strategies for R&D herein are defined as:

All information sets offered by the research institutions were carefully reviewed by the Working Group, and those that meet all of these requirements were adopted as "Technologies Developed under Implementation Strategies (Category A)" in the Technology List.(There is a subdivisios Categories A1 and A2:see next chapter).
In addition, a group of technologies that were developed purely for Japanese situations but have international feasibility was also collected. The criteria for their usefulness were specified as:

Those information sets that meet any of these three criteria were adopted as "Transferable Technologies."