Topics for 10th IDER

The co-chairs of the conference, Mette Lindahl Olsson, Head of Natural Hazards & Critical Infrastructure Section at the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency and Simon Langdon, Director of CEDARThree Ltd, have announced the sessions for IDER 2009 (Tuesday 20th and Wednesday 21st October 2009, Karlstad, Sweden):

Opening Session
This keynote session will address the broad issues of international disaster readiness and response and highlight the importance of integration between the different response agencies, the role of good communications and some of the key challenges that are faced in our fast moving world.

Critical National Infrastructure
Critical National Infrastructure (CNI) is the framework on which our nations are based. How vulnerable are they to natural or man-made disaster and what is being put in place to make them more resilient? This session addresses the issues and asks the question, "are we doing enough?"

Responding to disasters on Transport Systems
As population and trade increase around the world transport becomes ever more congested. This session looks at how transport organisations plan for safety to reduce risks as well as preparing for and responding to disaster. What are the knock-on effects and how can the transport industry learn from each other?

Lessons Identified – Case Studies
Disasters, whether natural or man-made, continue to happen. Has the world in the 21st Century identified the lessons that need to be addressed in order to prevent disasters or improve the response to lessen their impact? This session will use case studies of recent disasters to assess the lessons whether learned or simply identified.

Effective land-use planning to avoid disasters such as flooding
Global warming, the threat of flooding and sea level rises and increasing populations put ever more pressure on land use. There are now 27 so-called mega-cities with a population of over 10 million. This session addresses how Planning Authorities are addressing the risks to land-use to avoid major disasters?

NGOs
When disasters happen many NGOs respond. How effective are they and how do they meet the challenge of integrating their response with other NGOs, governments and the host country? This session focuses on the important contribution that the NGOs make to disaster response and the challenges they face.

Resilient Cities
There are many risks that major cities face. This session will explore the vital links between businesses, government agencies and emergency services in the face of natural and man-made threats to major cities.

Pandemic Flu
Swine flu, and its largely unpredictable spread around the world, has heightened concerns about the threat. This session will consider whether we have done enough to prepare the world for an effective response to the recently declared pandemic flu epidemic.

IDER 2008 was held in the superb conference facilities at the BT Centre in the City of London on Tuesday 14th and Wednesday 15th October 2008, with Workshops on the afternoon of Monday 13th.

Our thanks to all the speakers and delegates at IDER 2008 for their contribution to this 9th conference, which, as with all IDERs provided a good interaction between speakers and the audience, so that all had the opportunity to contribute their experience and expertise. With the support of Bournemouth University, the Proceedings of this year's conference will include all the PowerPoint presentations and video along with synchronised audio of the presentations AND the Q & A.

• The Proceedings are available free for speakers and "paid up" delegates on completion of the online Questionnaire - contact ider@andrich.com for the link to the online Questionnaire.
• The Proceedings are available for purchase - contact ider@andrich.com for details, including the price.

Join the IDER Group on LinkedIn

If you have a professional interest in the readiness for and the the effective response to disasters and major emergencies, you are invited to apply to join the IDER group on LinkedIn. This will give you the opportunity to network with fellow professionals from around the world.