7/30/2019 spacetech

1/5

Space Technology and Disaster Management

Under the theme "Space benefits for humanity in the twenty-first century", the Third UnitedNations Conference on the Exploration and Peaceful Uses of Outer Space (UNISPACE III) was

held in Vienna from 19 to 30 July 1999. In its resolution 1, the Conference adopted The Space

Millennium: Vienna Declaration on Space and Human Development, that was subsequentlyendorsed by the General Assembly in its resolution 54/68. The Vienna Declaration

recommended 33 specific actions that should be taken to enable space technologies to contribute

to the solution of global challenges of the new millennium. One of the recommendations putforward was the need "to implement an integrated, global system, especially through

international cooperation, to manage natural disaster mitigation, relief and prevention efforts,

especially of an international nature, through Earth observation, communications and otherspace-based services, making maximum use of existing capabilities and filling gaps in

worldwide satellite coverage".

The use of space-based solutions and information has increased significantly since UNISPACE-III. The use of such technologies has been proven useful in the risk assessment, mitigation and

preparedness phases of disaster management. As the global community learnt from the tsunamievent of December 2004, space technologies have a central role to play in providing early

warning to communities that are at risk. But in order for developing countries to be able to

incorporate the use of space technology-based solutions there is a need to increase awareness,build national capacity and also develop solutions that are customised and appropriate to the

needs of the developing world. This was the main goal of the space technology and disastermanagement programme carried out by the Office for Outer Space Affairs, between 2000 - 2004.

The Office organized a series of regional workshops on the use of space technology for disaster

management bringing the results of the regional workshops to an international workshop, held inMunich, Germany, in October 2004. At that workshop, 170 participants from 51 countries agreedon a global strategy that would help developing countries to gain access to and be able to use

space technology for disaster management, a strategy put forward as the Munich Vision: a

Global Strategy for Improved Risk Reduction and Disaster Management Using SpaceTechnology (A/AC.105/837, annex).

Participants recognized that space-based technologies such as Earth observation satellites,communication satellites, meteorological satellites and global navigation satellite systems

(GNSS) played an important role in risk reduction and disaster management, and made a number

of recommendations in the areas of capacity development and knowledge-building; data access,

data availability and information extraction; enhancing awareness; and national, regional andglobal coordination.

The recommendations and conclusions put forward by the participants of the various workshops,including the final workshop in Munich, were taken into consideration by the ad hoc expert

group that was studying the proposal of a coordinating entity that should be created and that

would be a "one-stop shop" to provide support to the disaster management community at large,that would be a platform for fostering alliances, and that would also contribute to bridging the

7/30/2019 spacetech

2/5

gap between the disaster management and space communities. Subsequently, by its resolution

61/110 of 14 December 2006, the General Assembly decided to establish the proposed UnitedNations Platform for Space-based Information for Disaster Management and Emergency

Response (UN-SPIDER) as a programme within the United Nations to provide universal access

to all countries and all relevant international and regional organizations to all types of space-

based information and services relevant to disaster management to support the full disastermanagement cycle by being a gateway to space information for disaster management support,

serving as a bridge to connect the disaster management and space communities and being a

facilitator of capacity-building and institutional strengthening, in particular for developingcountries (http://www.unspider.org).

Activities Carried Out

Activity City Date Programme Participants UN Report Presentations

United Nations InternationalWorkshop on the Use ofSpace Technology forDisaster Management

Munich,Germany

18-22October

2004

CLICKHERE

(ExternalLink)

CLICKHERE

(ExternalLink)

A/AC.105/837 CLICK HERE(External Link)

United Nations/Saudi ArabiaRegional Workshop on theUse of Space Technology forDisaster Management forWestern Asia

Riyadh,Saudi

Arabia

2-6October

2004

CLICKHERE

CLICKHERE

A/AC.105/836 CLICK HERE

United Nations/EuropeanSpace Agency/ Governmentof Sudan Regional Workshopon the Use of Space

Technology for NaturalResources Management,Environmental Monitoringand Disaster Management

Khartoum,

Sudan

48 April

2004

CLICK

HERE

CLICK

HEREA/AC.105/828 CLICK HERE

United Nations/IslamicRepublic of Iran RegionalWorkshop on the Use ofSpace Technology forEnvironmental Security,Disaster Rehabilitation andSustainable Development

Tehran,Islamic

Republicof Iran

8-12 May2004

CLICKHERE

CLICKHERE A/AC.105/833 CLICK HERE

United Nations/RomaniaRegional Workshop on the

Use of Space Technology forDisaster Management forEurope

PoianaBrasov,

Romania

19-23 May

2003

CLICK

HERE

CLICK

HERE A/AC.105/808

CLICK HERE

(ExternalLink)

United Nations RegionalWorkshop on the Use ofSpace technology forDisaster Management forAsia and the Pacific

Bangkok,Thailand

11-15November

2002

CLICKHERE

CLICKHERE A/AC.105/800

CLICK HERE(External Link)

United Nations RegionalAddis

Ababa,1-5 July

2002CLICK CLICK A/AC.105/794 CLICK HERE

http://www.unspider.org/http://www.unspider.org/http://www.unspider.org/http://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_837http://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/saudiarabia/programmeE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/saudiarabia/programmeE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/saudiarabia/programmeE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/saudiarabia/partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/saudiarabia/partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/saudiarabia/partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_836http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_836http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/act2004/saudiarabia/presentations/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/act2004/saudiarabia/presentations/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/sudan/sudan_prog_finE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/sudan/sudan_prog_finE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/sudan/sudan_prog_finE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/sudan/sudan_partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/sudan/sudan_partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/sudan/sudan_partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_828http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_828http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/act2004/sudan/presentations/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/act2004/sudan/presentations/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/iran/UNIRIran_Final_%20Programme.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/iran/UNIRIran_Final_%20Programme.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/iran/UNIRIran_Final_%20Programme.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/iran/UNIRIran_List_of_Participants.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/iran/UNIRIran_List_of_Participants.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/iran/UNIRIran_List_of_Participants.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_833http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_833http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/act2004/iran/presentations/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/act2004/iran/presentations/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMEUR_progfinE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMEUR_progfinE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMEUR_progfinE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMEUR_partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMEUR_partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMEUR_partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_808http://stdm.rosa.ro/stdm_workshop/final_programme.htmhttp://stdm.rosa.ro/stdm_workshop/final_programme.htmhttp://stdm.rosa.ro/stdm_workshop/final_programme.htmhttp://stdm.rosa.ro/stdm_workshop/final_programme.htmhttp://stdm.rosa.ro/stdm_workshop/final_programme.htmhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMAP_progE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMAP_progE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMAP_progE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMAP_listE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMAP_listE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMAP_listE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_800http://www.unescap.org/icstd/SPACE/documents/RWDM_Bangkok/RWDM_Frontpage.asphttp://www.unescap.org/icstd/SPACE/documents/RWDM_Bangkok/RWDM_Frontpage.asphttp://www.unescap.org/icstd/SPACE/documents/RWDM_Bangkok/RWDM_Frontpage.asphttp://www.unescap.org/icstd/SPACE/documents/RWDM_Bangkok/RWDM_Frontpage.asphttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/Final_Programme.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/List_Participants_V2.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_794http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_794http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/act2002/ethiopia/presentations/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/act2002/ethiopia/presentations/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/act2002/ethiopia/presentations/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_794http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/List_Participants_V2.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/Final_Programme.pdfhttp://www.unescap.org/icstd/SPACE/documents/RWDM_Bangkok/RWDM_Frontpage.asphttp://www.unescap.org/icstd/SPACE/documents/RWDM_Bangkok/RWDM_Frontpage.asphttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_800http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMAP_listE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMAP_listE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMAP_progE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMAP_progE.pdfhttp://stdm.rosa.ro/stdm_workshop/final_programme.htmhttp://stdm.rosa.ro/stdm_workshop/final_programme.htmhttp://stdm.rosa.ro/stdm_workshop/final_programme.htmhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_808http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMEUR_partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMEUR_partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMEUR_progfinE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/stdm/STDMEUR_progfinE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/act2004/iran/presentations/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_833http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/iran/UNIRIran_List_of_Participants.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/iran/UNIRIran_List_of_Participants.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/iran/UNIRIran_Final_%20Programme.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/iran/UNIRIran_Final_%20Programme.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/act2004/sudan/presentations/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_828http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/sudan/sudan_partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/sudan/sudan_partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/sudan/sudan_prog_finE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/sudan/sudan_prog_finE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/act2004/saudiarabia/presentations/index.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_836http://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/saudiarabia/partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/saudiarabia/partlistE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/saudiarabia/programmeE.pdfhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/pdf/sap/2004/saudiarabia/programmeE.pdfhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.oosa.unvienna.org/oosa/SAP/activitiesrep/index.html#AC105_837http://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.zki.caf.dlr.de/events/2004/unoosa_workshop/unoosa_workshop_2004_en.htmlhttp://www.unspider.org/

7/30/2019 spacetech

3/5

7/30/2019 spacetech

4/5

Tweet

Keywords: Informed consent, risk management, nuclear reactor, Noboru Kobayashi, Great EastJapan Earthquake, science and technology

Considering what has taken place over the past year. Understandably, what comes to everyone's

mind is the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011 and the Fukushima nuclear accident.A nationwide survey in June 2011 indicated that the nuclear accident was considered the most

serious crisis in the Great East Japan Earthquake, followed by 19% and 24% who answered the

"earthquake" and "tsunami," respectively. In other words, 55%, more than twice as manyrespondents thought the nuclear accident was more a serious crisis than the earthquake itself or

the tsunami.

Tsunami and earthquakes are themselves part of the phenomenon of the Great East JapanEarthquake, but the nuclear accident makes us, as citizens, think twice about science, and the

meaning of education related to technology that is produced by such science. Nevertheless,

living as we do in a scientifically and technologically advanced and materialistically affluentsociety, while we may be able to perceive the issues involved, it is hard to think about them from

a scientific perspective.

As we all know, such questions abound now: Why couldn't we have predicted the earthquake?Why was the height of the tsunami underestimated? Why couldn't the nuclear accident have been

prevented? Was the cause related to the nuclear reactor design? Are current radioactivity levels

safe? These are just some of the questions that need to be answered on scientific grounds.

These questions highlight the activities of scientists and the corporate world. While the truth of

these accusations is hard to ascertain, there is a lot of talk about scientists who have sold their

soul to the corporations for money, bogus scientists, or the corporate world that only cares aboutmaking money and has forgotten about safety. It also involves questions of social responsibility

and how to communicate risk to society at large.

I think it was in the 1970s that we began to hear about "informed consent" coming from the U.S.at hospitals and clinics. Simply put, it refers to the practice of the doctor fully explaining the

medical treatment to the patient in advance. At very least, instead of one-sided communication

from the doctor to the patient, it created an equal relationship, and in a sense, was able to raisethe level of medical care treatment. In that respect, looking at the confusion surrounding science

https://twitter.com/sharehttps://twitter.com/sharehttps://twitter.com/share

7/30/2019 spacetech

5/5

and technology in the aftermath of the Great East Japan Earthquake, it is time to think about how

to communicate risk in today's society.

It seems that in 1989, the National Research Council in the U.S. proposed an idea of riskcommunication that is similar to informed consent. It defined the exchange of information and

opinion on risk between individuals, institutions and groups, etc., as a two-way, interactiveprocess between the providers and receivers of information. Problems often occur when the

scientist is the information provider and citizens are the receivers. As a matter of course, in the

planning stages of a nuclear reactor or construction, risk communication between scientists andcorporations becomes an important issue. I will leave the details of risk communication to

another publication, but our society has also come to the point where we will not be able to live

without it.

If all scientists, people in corporate business, and citizens fully considered these matters logically

and ethically, there would be no need to talk about risk communication, but just as informed

consent arrived with advances in medicine, it is time to discuss and determine what should be thepractices of risk communication in a scientifically and technologically advanced society. Today,

risk often tends to be calculated by computer as probability, which can be confusing to thepublic. Without accurate, easy-to-understand information, people will not be moved to consider

risk and make a decision on how to act. Moreover, Japan is a country with a high probability ofnatural disasters such as earthquakes.

In the early 1960s, I studied at a pediatrics hospital in London for three years. While living there,one of my strongest impressions was that British society was one where scientists like Newton

and Darwin were regular citizens walking the streets like everyone else. Of course, that is based

on the particular history and traditions of science and technology in the UK, in which ordinarycitizens have been able and encouraged to think about things in scientific and technological

terms. Indeed, if a disaster like the 3.11 earthquake had occurred in the UK, how would the

citizens have reacted? Japanese society must strive to renew its way of thinking about science

and technology, which were originally imported from Europe and the U.S. This means raisingthe level of scientific and technological knowledge among children and considering what kind of

risk communication is most appropriate for our culture here.