Risk Reduction – Resilience and risk reduction in geosciences is a core theme of DEU-ISGR-23 because societies now face compounding climate, seismic, hydrologic, and geomorphic hazards that strain infrastructure and institutions. Geoscience offers the evidence, monitoring, and modeling capacity needed to understand hazard processes and translate them into practical strategies for safety and sustainability. Global frameworks such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction call for risk-informed policies, multi-hazard early warning, and resilient infrastructure—all areas where geoscientific data are decisive. The IPCC AR6 further underlines how warming increases the likelihood and intensity of extremes, raising the urgency for integrated risk assessment and adaptation. In this context, DEU-ISGR-23 positions geoscience as both a scientific and societal force: connecting Earth observation, field studies, and numerical models with emergency planning, land-use governance, and community preparedness. By convening researchers, practitioners, and policymakers, the symposium advances an actionable agenda for resilience that is rigorous, ethical, and locally grounded.
Access the Official Proceedings of DEU-ISGR-23 – Peer-Reviewed Papers Across Multiple Disciplines
Geoscientific Foundations of Resilience in Risk-Prone Regions
Resilience begins with understanding Earth systems. Seismic networks, GNSS and InSAR deformation measurements, paleoflood and landslide records, and hydro-meteorological analyses reveal the frequency, magnitude, and cascading nature of hazards. These insights enable zoning, codes, and investment decisions that reduce exposure and vulnerability. Agencies like the USGS Natural Hazards Program demonstrate how real-time monitoring, hazard maps, and scenario modeling inform evacuation routes, lifeline redundancy, and recovery timelines. Conceptually, disaster risk reduction integrates hazard probability with exposure and vulnerability, turning geoscientific evidence into governance tools. At DEU-ISGR-23, contributors present case studies that connect subsurface characterization, slope-stability modeling, sediment budgets, and groundwater dynamics to practical interventions—from setback lines and early-warning triggers to nature-based solutions that absorb shocks. The result is a shared vocabulary linking science with planning: a foundation for resilient regions that can anticipate, absorb, adapt, and recover.
Advancing Risk Reduction through Technology and Collaboration
Risk reduction accelerates when technology and partnerships align. Satellite remote sensing, dense sensor arrays, machine-learning classifiers, and ensemble forecast systems now feed decision platforms that support emergency managers and utilities. The Early Warnings for All initiative promotes universal, people-centered multi-hazard warning systems, while the World Bank’s GFDRR documents the high benefit-cost ratios of resilient infrastructure, data platforms, and preparedness drills. DEU-ISGR-23 sessions highlight interoperable data standards, open-source toolchains, and cross-border information sharing that make warnings timely and actionable. Equally important is institutional collaboration: geoscientists working with city planners, public-health officials, insurers, and civil-society groups to align risk models with procurement cycles, budgets, and legal mandates. By coupling scientific fidelity with operational realism, the symposium advances implementable risk-reduction pathways that scale from local pilots to national systems.
From Theory to Practice: Engaging Vulnerable Communities
Resilience succeeds when communities co-create it. Participatory hazard mapping, citizen science rainfall and stream gauges, household preparedness training, and inclusive evacuation planning translate geoscience into lived capability. Guidance from the IFRC on community-based disaster risk reduction emphasizes culturally appropriate communication, attention to gender and disability, and trusted local intermediaries. Field examples at DEU-ISGR-23 show how integrating indigenous and local knowledge with geomorphic and hydrologic evidence improves uptake of landslide watch thresholds, floodplain set-asides, and drought contingency triggers. Universities and institutes can anchor these efforts through service-learning studios, risk labs, and extension programs that keep feedback loops open between researchers and residents. When early warnings are co-designed, messages become clearer, protective action increases, and recovery is faster—closing the gap between technical theory and community practice.
Keynote Speakers at DEU-ISGR-23 – Global Thought Leaders in Earth and Environmental Sciences
Bouncing Forward: Sustainable Recovery and Geoscience Leadership
A resilient future requires building back smarter, not just faster. The Build Back Better principle embeds risk reduction into reconstruction, ensuring each repair reduces future losses. Aligning resilience with SDG 13 (Climate Action) links geoscience to mitigation, adaptation, and finance, while professional bodies such as the American Geosciences Institute outline how Earth science guides critical decisions on water, energy, minerals, and hazards. DEU-ISGR-23 advances this leadership by promoting open data, transparent methods, ethical risk communication, and training the next generation of practitioners who bridge labs and localities. Resilience, then, is not a static end-state but a continuous, evidence-based practice—anticipating compounding risks, investing in robust systems, and empowering communities to bounce forward after shocks. With geoscience at the helm, risk reduction becomes the pathway to sustainable development.
