SEMINARS AND CONFERENCES

National and International Emergency Management related conferences, workshops and other activities.

(Please note that any conference with a  is either sponsored by EMA, or has a member of EMA staff giving a presentation (commitments pending).

For inclusion on this list, please email the EMA Library with your seminar or conference details.

This list is compiled from notifications sent to the EMA Library, advertisements in journals, and from the conference lists on the Natural Hazards Research and Applications Information Center at the University of Colorado at Boulder, and the New Zealand Government's Ministry of Civil Defence and Emergency Management. This list is not an endorsement of any of these events. It is only a list of emergency-management related events throughout the world.

News and Featured Conferences:

10-13 Canberra, Australia - Australian Disasters Conference 2009: Surviving Future Risks.
The Australian Disasters Conference 2009 will provide participants with the opportunity to hear a diverse range of speakers from the fields of emergency management, community safety and risk reduction. The Conference will be an opportunity for interaction with representatives from a broad range of disciplines, while the exhibition display and social events will provide further opportunities for networking and discussion on community safety issues. For more information, please visit: http://www.ema.gov.au/disastersconference

2008

October

5-9 Houston, Texas, United States - Geological Society of America Annual Meeting: Celebrating the International Year of Planet Earth.
The vision of this conference is to highlight and stimulate discussions in areas of common interest across the diversity of disciplines and organizations represented. Shared involvement in energy, water resources, education, and earth systems will foster a program comprised of thousands of scientific papers, hundreds of exhibits, and a myriad of distinguished lectures and special events in order to engage students and professionals across the earth sciences and in every employment sector.
https://www.acsmeetings.org/2008/

11-15 Providence, Rhode Island, United States - 4th National Conference on Coastal and Estuarine Habitat Restoration.
The conference program will address all aspects of coastal and estuarine habitat restoration, in all habitats and at all scales. This national conference is focused on the goals and practices of coastal and estuarine habitat restoration. The five-day conference will explore the state-of-the-art in all aspects and scales of restoration, and will be comprised of field sessions, plenary sessions, expert presentations, special evening events, workshops, a poster hall, and a Restoration Exposition. The goal of this conference is to advance the science, scale, pace, practice, and success of habitat restoration at all scales. It brings together the entire coastal and estuarine habitat restoration community, and provides a unique blend of people and policy, science, strategy, business, and best practices.
conference@estuaries.org.
http://www.estuaries.org/?id=4

12-17 Beijing, China - 14th World Conference on Earthquake Engineering.
Organizer: International Association for Earthquake Engineering (IAEE). Started in 1956 and held every four years, the World Conference on Earthquake Engineering (WCEE) is the most influential and the largest professional event in the field of earthquake engineering. The 14WCEE will serve as an international forum at which more than 3000 specialists, government officials, and NGO representatives in earthquake engineering and relevant fields will exchange their latest research results and technologies. It will also serve as a wonderful opportunity for related vendors to show off their latest products and services. The conference strives to promote innovation, transformative practice, and durable safety in reducing the impact of earthquakes on our society and natural environment.
http://www.14wcee.org

16-19 New Delhi, India - IHDP 7th Open Meeting: Social Challenges of Global Change.
Organizers: International Human Dimensions Programme on Global Environmental Change (IDHP) and The Energy and Resources Institute (TERI). While still reaching out to the large and diverse international human dimensions community, it is expected that this meeting will be highly applicable to the South Asian region generally, and India in particular. The conference will follow up on outcomes from the last Open Meeting in Bonn in 2005, which tried to outline the need for a more specific and selective scientific approach. With the theme of the 7th Open Meeting, "Social Challenges of Global Change," IHDP wants to indicate the need to incorporate not only the general discussion about climate change, but also many other environmental changes that happen in our society: resource shortages, the destruction of ecosystem services, and new threats to human health. The four core issues the conference plans to address are demographic challenges; limitations of resources and ecosystem services; maintenance of social cohesion while increasing (global) equity; and adaptation of institutions to address global change. http://www.openmeeting2008.org

21-22 Athens, Greece - Aerial Firefighting Conference 2008.
The Aerial Firefighting Conference brings together, for the first time, the global community of aerial operators, fixed and rotary-winged aircraft companies, technology providers, and government and international civil protection bodies responsible for responding to wildfires. In recent years it has become commonplace for the worlds' news channels to air scenes of wildfires devastating huge areas of forest and agricultural land in Greece, California, Portugal, Australia, Indonesia, Russia, and Canada. The Aerial Firefighting Conference will address the global issues of fighting wildfires from the air with presentations provided from ground and aerial firefighting experts from Greece, Italy, United States, Canada, Russia, South Africa, Australia, France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Japan. For further information, go to http://www.tangentlink.com/index_files/Page2450.htm

21-22 Singapore, - Disaster Management Response and Recovery 2008
DMRR is Asia’s largest gathering of disaster preparedness and emergency response professionals, and the focuses on: Threat assessment & disaster risk reduction; Building capacity for greater resilience; Interagency cooperation & partnership initiatives; Creating the most robust emergency plans; Effective & interoperable emergency communications; Best practices in emergency response & crisis management. For enquiries contact: sam.yamzon@alphabet-media.com

21-24 Hyderabad, India – First World Congress on Disaster Management
Disaster Management, Infrastructure and Control Society (DMICS) is organising a four-day World Congress on Disaster Management in association with central and state government organisations, and NGOs. We look forward to an overwhelming response from all over the world for this event, expected to be another landmark in formulating disaster management policies and would involve disaster management specialists worldwide. The themes of the Congress include disasters identified by the High Power Committee of the UN. The Congress intends to focus on the prevention and mitigation of disasters through international co-operation and local preparedness besides the development of infrastructure. Control systems to detect, warn and initiate steps to contain undesirable events and to trigger personnel volition and mobilisation are as essential as the infrastructure, planning, management and intervention policies which also form the themes of the Congress. For further information, go to: http://www.dmics.in/

22-23 Brisbane, Queensland, Australia – 2nd Australasian Mental Health and Psychosocial Disaster Conference: Delivering the Calm
The Conference will be national in focus with a keynote speaker being Professor Beverley Raphael, Professor Population Mental Health and Disasters, University of Western Sydney. Topics at the conference include: The role of the media and public communications in minimising disaster stress; Psychosocial impacts in Hurricane Katrina and lessons for Australia's disaster managers; Practical lessons learned in referrals during the Canberra bushfires; Social impacts of equine Influenza and lessons for the future; Integration of mental health in large operations; Psychosocial peer support programs for first responders; Selecting and using crisis counselling; Best practice in public support through targeted public communications; Enhancement of disaster resilience in communities; Identification of special needs groups. For further information, go to http://www.disasters-psychosocial.org.au/

22-24 Hayward, California, United States - 1868 Hayward Earthquake Alliance Third Conference on Earthquake Hazards in the Eastern San Francisco Bay Area.
Meeting organizers include representatives from the California Geological Survey, the U.S. Geological Survey, CSU East Bay, University of California-Berkeley, and URS Corporation. This event is designed to help commemorate the 140th anniversary of the 1868 Hayward fault earthquake. The conference represents the third of a series of workshops, the last was held in 1992. It will offer scientific presentations, a free public forum on earthquake hazards and earthquake preparedness, teacher workshops/tutorials on earthquake science, and geology and engineering field trips in the East Bay area.
kknudsen@consrv.ca.gov
http://1868alliance.org/activities/?id=16

26-31 Sliema, Malta - 3rd International Conference on Systems and Networks Communications (ICSNC 2008).
The Third International Conference on Systems and Networks Communications (ICSNC 2008) continues a series of events covering a broad spectrum of systems and network related topics. The conference covers fundamentals on wireless, high speed, sensor, and mobile and ad hoc networks; security, policy-based systems; and education systems. Topics are targeting design, implementation, testing, use, tools, and lessons learnt for such networks and systems.
http://www.iaria.org/conferences2008/ICSNC08.html

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November

3-4 Cheltenham, UK - FloodFighters : 2008 - Resilience : Response : Renewal
This year's main flooding conference ‘FloodFighters: 2008’ will continue its mission of developing business and organisational resilience to extreme weather events, as well as providing leading edge tactical workshops for first responders and their managers. For more information, go to: http://www.flood-fighters.com/

5-6 Sydney, Crisis Communications & Issues Management Summit 2008
Themes include: Critical time, professional response; Strategic considerations for crisis communicators, Departmental and ministerial communications, Issues management to crisis communications, An account of a crisis from the media perspective.  For more information, go to: http://www.frocomm.com.au

12-14 Los Angeles, California - International Earthquake Conference: Policy, Planning, and Preparedness
This conference will present best practices and policies, new ideas, and cutting-edge technology that reduce earthquake risk and minimize losses. Policy approaches and disaster response tools will be discussed.  For more information, go to: http://www.iec.lacity.org/

15-20 Kansas City ( Overland Park), Kansas - IAEM 56th Annual Conference and EMEX 2008: Putting a New Spin on Emergency Management
The IAEM Annual Conference provides a forum for current trends and topics, information about the most recent tools and technology in emergency management and homeland security, and advances IAEM committee work. Sessions encourage stakeholders at all levels of government, the private sector, public health, and related professions to exchange ideas on collaborating to protect lives and property from disaster. Emergency managers, homeland security officials, first response coordinators, private industry risk managers and contingency planners are encouraged to attend.  For more information, go to: http://www.iaem.com/events/annual/intro.htm

16-18 Blacksburg, Virginia, United States - Symposium on Enhancing Resilience to Catastrophic Events through Communicative Planning.
The Institute for Policy and Governance and the School of Public and International Affairs at Virginia Tech invite scholars to consider how collaborative planning can enhance resilience to events that threaten to overcome the social and ecological integrity of communities, states, and societies. Presentations and discussion will be held in Blacksburg, VA on November 16-18, 2008, and symposium papers will be edited and revised for journal and/or book publication in early 2009. For further information, go to http://www.iq.harvard.edu/blog/netgov/2008/04/the_virginia_tech_symposium_on.html

17-20 New Orleans, Louisiana, United States - American Water Resources Association Annual Meeting.
This annual conference offers a forum for all participants of the water resources community to engage in conversations about the many multidisciplinary aspects of water resources, and to make connections that will improve how the community understands the importance of complex water issues for the region, the nation, and the world. To encourage this exchange, the conference will include oral and poster sessions, plenary panels, field trips, and networking events. Student participation activities are also planned. Special sessions could focus on water resource issues in the New Orleans area; large regional wetlands restoration/protection projects around the world, such as in the Everglades and the Pantenal; the National Levee Certification Program; or other topics from recent specialty conferences and the National Water Policy Dialogue. http://www.awra.org/

21-23 Ballarat, Victoria, Australia - Australian Earthquake Engineering Conference AEES 2008.
There will be no single theme for this year's conference to encourage anyone involved in earthquake engineering or engineering seismology in Australasia to participate. Authors are invited to submit papers on topics related to earthquake engineering and engineering seismology and also from related extreme event topics including blast, tsunami, critical infrastructure protection, emergency management and insurance. For further information, go to http://www.aees.org.au/

24-28 Santiago, Chile - Fourth EGU Alexander von Humboldt International Conference : The Andes: Challenge for Geosciences.
The aim of this interdisciplinary and international EGU 4th Humboldt Conference is to bring researchers from diverse specializations together, and thus catalyze more comprehensive interdisciplinary research towards a better understanding of the complexity of the Andes system. Scientists from all geosciences fields carrying out research related to the Andes are invited to contribute to this interdisciplinary conference. The conference general topics and interdisciplinary themes include: cryosphere and hydrology, climate and its variability and climate change, and tectonics and geodynamics. Interdisciplinary themes include, but are not limited to climate-tectonics-surface processes; water resources in future climate scenarios; the impact of subduction on tectonics, volcanism, and atmospheric chemistry; sustainable, environmentally friendly utilization of natural resources; and coping with incomplete data in geosciences.
http://www.dgf.uchile.cl/~rgarreau/EGU-Andes/

24-27 Tskuba, Japan - 7th General Assembly of Asian Seismological Commission and Seismological Society of Japan, 2008 Fall Meeting.
The main theme for this year's conference is "Sharing of Up-to-date Science and Technology to Reduce Earthquakes Disaster in Asia." The goal is to bridge science and technology, research and application, domestic efforts and international collaboration, and to bridge the Asia Pacific region to the rest of the world.
http://wwwsoc.nii.ac.jp/ssj/asc-ssj2008/

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2009

February

10-13 Canberra, Australia - Australian Disasters Conference 2009: Surviving Future Risks.
The Australian Disasters Conference 2009 will provide participants with the opportunity to hear a diverse range of speakers from the fields of emergency management, community safety and risk reduction. The Conference will be an opportunity for interaction with representatives from a broad range of disciplines, while the exhibition display and social events will provide further opportunities for networking and discussion on community safety issues. For more information, please visit: http://www.ema.gov.au/disastersconference

March

23-24 Dockside, Sydney - 7th Annual National Security Australia 2009
Now in its 7th year, National Security Australia is one of the nation's leading annual security forums, attracting over 250 senior delegates from across the national security space.  Amongst other themes, the event will review Australia's critical infrastructure protection, and investigate and promote Australia's international commitments and cooperative initiatives. It will also access current traditional and non-traditional threats to national security, and is well timed to coincide with a range of changes in the industry.  For more information, go to: http://www.nationalsecurityaus.com/

April

6-10 Austin, Texas - 2009 National Hurricane Conference
The goal of the National Hurricane Conference is to improve hurricane preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation; saving lives and property in the United States and tropical islands of the Caribbean and Pacific. In addition, the conference serves as a national forum for federal, state and local officials to exchange ideas and recommend new policies to improve emergency management. To accomplish these goals, the annual conference emphasizes lessons learned from hurricane strikes; state-of-the-art programs worthy of emulation; new ideas being tested or considered; information about new and ongoing assistance programs; and the ABC's of hurricane preparedness, response, recovery, and mitigation. For more information, go to: http://www.hurricanemeeting.com/ or by e-mailing mail@hurricanemeeting.com.

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May

4-8 Stresa, Lago Maggiore, Italy - 33rd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment: Sustaining the Millenium Development Goal.
You are cordially invited to the 33rd International Symposium on Remote Sensing of Environment (ISRSE) which will represent a major eventin the long series of internationally recognized ISRSE meetings. The overall theme of the symposium is the use of Earth Observation systems and airborne techniques for understanding and managing the Earth environment with particular emphasis on resources and natural hazards. It will be structured along the societal benefit areas of the GEO initiative and specifically address how Earth Observation can support the UN Millennium Development Goals. The symposium will include oral sessions and posters on vital issues of interest to scientists, policy makers and resource managers in the public and private sectors. The programme will feature speakers from around the globe sharing their experiences and knowledge on remote sensing applications and programmes during plenary, breakout and poster sessions. For further information, go to http://www.symposia.org/

12-15 Victoria, British Columbia, Canada - 16th World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine.
The World Association of Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WADEM) invites you to register for the 16th World Congress on Disaster and Emergency Medicine (WCDEM). Potential Topics to date for the 2009 WCDEM congress include but are not limited to: Pandemics, Epidemics, and Infectious Diseases; Mass Gatherings: Large Scale Sporting Events; Safe Hospitals; Terrorism - Biological and others; Natural Disasters: Water, Wind, Wild Fires, and Earthquakes; Refugees and Disasters; Psychosocial Issues related to Disasters; Paediatrics and Disasters; The role of EMS in Disasters; Civilian Military Collaboration. To Register visit: http://www.wcdem2009.org

June

9-11 Istanbul, Turkey - 16th TIEMS Annual Conference 2009
Annual conference of the International Emergency Management Society (TIEMS). TIEMS is dedicated to developing and bringing the benefits of modern Emergency Management (EM) tools and techniques to society for a safer world.  For further information go to: http://www.tiems2009.org/tiems.html

18-20 Sydney, New South Wales, Australia - International WildFire management Conference - Australia 2009: "Facing our Future" (Incorporating the Australasian Education and Fire Awareness Conference).
This conference is jointly sponsored by the NSW Rural Fire Service, the Rural Fire Service Association in association with the International Association of Fire Chiefs (IAFC). This major conference will bring together experts from around the world to look at many of the major issues facing wildland firefighters and agencies, as well as land managers and environmentalists. The conference will present three main streams: Technology and Research; A Safer Community; Challenges We Face. For further information, go to http://www.wildfiremanagement09.com/