Following the participation of the DRU researchers Vicente Sandoval and Verena Flörchinger in the RC21 Conference in Chile (24-26 July 2024), they participated in a series of meetings with experienced researchers at key institutions related to disaster research and disaster risk management (DRM) in Chile. The objective of these meetings was the dissemination of research results (i.e., the INCREASE project), exchange ideas, and network with relevant actors in the field of integrated disaster risk management.

Between Monday 29 and Tuesday 30 July 2024, the DRU team aimed an enriching exploration of four distinguished institutions in the country — a) the Faculty of Architecture and Urbanism (FAU) & the Disaster Risk Reduction Program (CITRID), both at the Universidad de Chile; b) the National Research Center for Integrated Disaster Risk Management (CIGIDEN), hosted by the Pontificia Universidad Catolica de Chile (PUC); c) the Chilean National Disaster Prevention and Response Service (SENAPRED). Additionally, the team visited the Corporation for Risk and Disaster Management GRID-Chile, a non-governmental organization with vast experience in the field of DRM and risk reduction in Chile.

On the first day, the DRU researchers kicked-off discussions at the FAU & CITRID (Universidad de Chile), where Prof. Dr. Carmen Paz Castro and Natalia Silva, renowned researchers specializing in integrated disaster risk management (IDRM), inequalities, injustice, and urban disaster risk governance, shared their insights and experiences as well as we exchange experiences from the INCREASE project. The team also met Claudia González-Muzzio at GRID-Chile, she has been working on the nexus between risk, disaster, culture, and heritage research in last decades, including their integration within DRM.That same day, the team visited Rodrigo Ramirez at the School of Design at the PUC to know a bit more about the Guemil project: Guemil is an initiative of open-source icons with a focus on making the discussion about disaster risk and emergency more accessible and inclusive.

Meeting at FAU, 2024. Source: DRU, 2024.

Visit to Rodirgo Ramirez (Guemil Icons), 2024. Source: DRU, 2024.

The second day the team visited SENAPRED, a state public service, where the national director Alicia Cebrián and her team introduced their work on disaster risk reduction and integration at national and regional levels. Here, the DRU team introduced the scoping questionnaire on integrated disaster risk management (IDRM), an instrument that introduces proto-indicators to explore and assess IDRM in different contexts. More infomation can be found here: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13753-023-00490-1.

Meeting at SENAPRED, 2024. Source: DRU, 2024.

After this, the team visited CIGIDEN to delve into innovative research conducted by Prof. Dr. Manuel TironiKatherine Campos-Knothe, Leila Juzam, Marcelo Gonzalez Galvez y Beltran Undurraga Rodriguez on the interface of indigenous knowledge, disaster culture, disaster governance, disaster risk, and Anthropocene. Prof. Dr. Tironi is principal investigator of the CIGIDEN’s research line “Disaster Cultures and Risk Governance.”

Meeting at CIGIDEN (Research Line 4: Disaster Culture and Risk Governance), 2024. Source: DRU, 2024.

Additionally, Vicente Sandoval met Prof. Dr. Fernando Peña and his team, as well as postgraduate students from the Doctorate program “Territorial Planning and Sustainability” and the Master program on “Territorial Planning and Management”. Prof. Peña is director of the Laboratory of Territorial Planning (LPT) at the Universidad Católica de Temuco with around 30 years of experience and has leaded research projects on disaster risk management and reduction, resilience, and hazard assessments in Southern Chile, with a special focus on indigenous knowledge and the Mapuche culture.

Verena Flörchinger met with representatives of the local water supply organization, "Comité de Agua Potable Rural," in Totoralillo, a village northwest of Santiago. During the visit, she gained valuable insights into the operation of the desalination plant as well as the exceptional water quality. Additionally, they talked about the increasing drought periods in various regions of Chile and the associated challenges.

Throughout the visit, the DRU team’s objectives encompassed disseminating the results of the INCREASE project and DRU experience, obtain valuable feedback on their work, but also to establish meaningful connections to enriching and advancing the scientific community.