International Disaster Conference 2019 | Asia Society for Social Improvement & Sustainable Transformation, Inc. on Glue Up

About IDC 2019

The Asian Institute of Management - Stephen Zuellig Graduate School of Development Management (AIM-ZSDM) and the Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST) are organizing the International Disaster Conference 2019 which will be held on 21 November at The Peninsula Manila, Makati City, Philippines.

Building on the foundation of the previous Forums, this year, the IDC series will bring a sharper focus on WATER with the theme "Future-Proofing Water through Innovation," which is designed in a two-pronged approach on Water Risks and Crisis—too much water (natural disasters that result in floods, storms, hurricanes, and rise in sea levels), and too little water (lack of clean water, drought).

With water crisis being among the top five most damaging global risks, IDC 2019 aims to tackle water-related issues in line with the UN-SDGs, particularly SDG 6: Clean Water and Sanitation, SDG 13: Climate Action and SDG 17: Partnership for the Goals, which hopes to strengthen resilience and adaptive capacity to climate-related hazards and natural disasters.

Program

November 21, 2019

Event Agenda

8:00 AM - 9:00 AM

Registration

9:00 AM - 9:15 AM

Welcoming Remarks + Setting the Context

Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go (Head, Stephen Zuellig School of Development Management at Asian Institute of Management)

Dr. Jikyeong Kang (Dean at Asian Institute of Management)

9:15 AM - 9:45 AM

Message of Support + Keynote Speech

Patrick Wesner (Deputy Mission Director of USAID in the Philippines)

9:45 AM - 10:45 AM

Plenary Session | Too Little: Water Crisis

In a world of 7.7 billion people, 844 million people have no access to clean water, which positions water crises as the 4th global risk in terms of societal impacts. This session will focus on the global risks, challenges, and potential counteractive measures to address having too little water, as well as the potential for worsening water scarcity issues. This will also highlight actions to help achieve the UN-SDG#6 geared towards clean, accessible water for all.

Rep. Ryan Yamane (Chair, Committee on Water & Land at State of Hawaii)

Frankie Arellano (Senior Technical Consultant and Practice Leader for Water at Maynilad Water Services)

10:45 AM - 11:15 AM

Coffee + Networking Break

11:15 AM - 12:15 PM

Plenary Session | Too Much: Water Risks

Climate change and urbanization have drastically escalated the frequency and intensity of disasters globally. Ninety per cent of all these natural disasters are water-related such as floods, storms, hurricanes, tsunamis, and sea-level rise. Nine out of 15 countries in the world with the highest exposure and risk are in the Asia and the Pacific. This session will discuss the global risks for climate-induced water-related disaster, and facilitate a discussion on possible counteractive measures to alleviate the negative impacts of worsening water-related disasters in the various phases of disaster management.

Butch Meily (President at Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation)

Dr. Vinod Thomas (Visiting Professor at Asian Institute of Management)

Dr. Min-Hao Wu (Director, Science and Technology Center for Disaster Prevention and Reduction of National University of Kaohsiung)

Benjamin Horton (Chair, Asian School of Environment at Earth Observatory of Singapore)

12:15 PM - 1:00 PM

Lunch Break

2:30 PM - 3:00 PM

Coffee + Networking Break

4:30 PM - 5:00 PM

Synthesis Session

Sreenivas Narayanan (Managing Director of Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST))

Stephane Bessadi (Senior Water Utility Specialist at Asian Development Bank)

Geoffrey Wilson (Senior Water Resources Specialist at Asian Development Bank)

5:00 PM - 5:30 PM

Closing Remarks

Emmanuel De Guzman (Secretary at Climate Change Commission)

PRACTICES | The Ripple Effect: Best Practices on Water Crisis Management

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Deep Dive Session | Too Little: Water Crisis

Venue: Rigodon Ballroom

This session aims to highlight responsible and sustainable best practices, and emerging innovations to address the issues of too little water.

Swapnil Bora (Practice Lead at ECC International)

Rohit Nara (CEO and Founder of Agua Wireless Systems)

3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Deep Dive Session | Too Much: Water Risks

Venue: Rigodon Ballroom

Learning from sustainable practices and emerging innovations to create the most substantive and germane solutions to issues of too much water.

Dr. Reynaldo Ebora (Executive Director of DOST-PCAARRD)

Adam Switzer (Associate Chair, Asian School of Environment at Earth Observatory of Singapore)

POLICIES + PARTNERSHIPS | Better Governance and Making Waves Together: Water Policy Reforms for Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships for Water Resilience

1:00 PM - 2:30 PM

Deep Dive Session | Too Little: Water Crisis

Venue: Balagtas Function Room

Discuss existing Asian water policies for a unified approach in pushing for better water policy reforms and build synergies for a roadmap on national & regional actions to enhance the adoption of sustainable and best practices in water supply management.

Kathleen Almonte (Manager, Engagement Platform at Philippine Business for Social Progress)

Kevin Lee (Executive Director of A Single Drop of Water)

3:00 PM - 4:30 PM

Deep Dive Session | Too Much: Water Risks

Venue: Balagtas Function Room

Applying lessons learned from existing Asian water policies to propose governance-driven solutions to water disasters and their socio-economic and human impact, and transcending differences to create synergies and build partnerships towards regional cooperation and national actions that will enhance the adoption of responsible and best practices in water disaster management.

Dr. Annadel Cabanban (Country Representative and Programme Manager at Wetlands International)

Dr. Ephraim Cercado (Vice President at Sustainable Tree Farmers Group of the Philippines)

Resource Persons

Dr. Jikyeong Kang

Dean at Asian Institute of Management

Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go

Head, Stephen Zuellig School of Development Management at Asian Institute of Management

Patrick Wesner

Deputy Mission Director of USAID in the Philippines

Butch Meily

President at Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation

Stephane Bessadi

Senior Water Utility Specialist at Asian Development Bank

Saroj Srisai

Expert on ASEAN Water

Kathleen Almonte

Manager, Engagement Platform at Philippine Business for Social Progress

Frankie Arellano

Senior Technical Consultant and Practice Leader for Water at Maynilad Water Services

Swapnil Bora

Practice Lead at ECC International

Dr. Vinod Thomas

Visiting Professor at Asian Institute of Management

Dr. Annadel Cabanban

Country Representative and Programme Manager at Wetlands International

Dr. Ephraim Cercado

Vice President at Sustainable Tree Farmers Group of the Philippines

Emmanuel De Guzman

Secretary at Climate Change Commission

Dr. Reynaldo Ebora

Executive Director of DOST-PCAARRD

Benjamin Horton

Chair, Asian School of Environment at Earth Observatory of Singapore

Kevin Lee

Executive Director of A Single Drop of Water

Rohit Nara

CEO and Founder of Agua Wireless Systems

Sreenivas Narayanan

Managing Director of Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST)

Adam Switzer

Associate Chair, Asian School of Environment at Earth Observatory of Singapore

Renato "Abong" Tayag

Former Director of Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce & Industry

Geoffrey Wilson

Senior Water Resources Specialist at Asian Development Bank

Dr. Min-Hao Wu

Director, Science and Technology Center for Disaster Prevention and Reduction of National University of Kaohsiung

Rep. Ryan Yamane

Chair, Committee on Water & Land at State of Hawaii

Butch is the President of the Philippine Disaster Resilience Foundation (PDRF), a disaster management organization composed of many of the largest corporations in the country. Under his leadership, PDRF has become a global model used by the UN as a showcase for local business disaster response networks. He also heads QBO Innovation Hub, a public-private sector partnership supported by the Department of Science and Technology, Department of Trade and Industry, JP Morgan, and IdeaSpace. He is president of Pacific Global One, which is PLDT’s aviation arm.

He has a wealth of experience in the private sector both in the Philippines and the United States, and is deeply involved in corporate social responsibility programs. A graduate of Ateneo de Manila University, Butch has an M.A. in Journalism and Communications from the University of Florida. He was a recipient of the College of Journalism’s Alumnus of Distinction award in 2000. He returned to UF in 2003 as the Freedom Forum Distinguished Visiting Professor.

As part of ADB's Sustainable Development and Climate Change Department, Stephane Bessadi leads programs on innovative water and wastewater practices and energy efficient technologies from the water service industry, working with ADB regional departments on projects including but not limited to Georgia, India, Nepal, and the People's Republic of China. He also supervises the Water Operators Partnerships (WOPs) Program and develops corporatization roadmaps.

Before joining ADB in 2017, Stephane spent 15 years working for private water companies, primarily Suez Environnement. A French national, Stephane obtained a BA in Economics from McGill University in Montreal, a Master as Engineer Economist at the University of Aix-Marseille II, and a Master in Water Management at the National School for Rural Engineering and Forestry in Montpellier.

Saroj Srisai's professional background has always been work on issues in sustainable development. He spent 10 years with the Royal Thai Government serving in the Ministry of Energy and the Ministry of Natural Resources and Environment. During the past several years, he worked for international and regional organizations, namely the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN), Asia Regional Office, based in Bangkok, and the ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management (AHA Centre), based in Jakarta.

He has participated in various international environment forums, such as the Conference of the Parties (COP) under the Framework of the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC), the Conference of the Parties (COP) of the Convention on Biological Diversity (CBD), the World Conservation Congress and many others. In his previous posts, he served as a project manager, secretariat to various national committees on energy and environment, and the country negotiator at international forums.

Saroj is a Thai national. He obtained two Master Degrees; one in Diplomacy and International Strategy from London School of Economics in the UK, and the other in Energy and Resources Study from University of California, Berkeley, USA.

Swapnil is currently a Practice Lead at ECC International overseeing delivery and management of critical projects. He has 7+ years of implementation experience and performing instructor based trainings in the field of Disaster Management, Business Continuity & Disaster Recovery, IT Governance, Information Security Management System, IT Service Management, Enterprise Risk Management, Quality Management System, Third Party Risk Management, IT Audits (SOX, ISAE 3402 and external audits), Physical Security, Protective Intelligence and Anti-Fraud and Forensics.

He has managed several projects and programs for multiple agencies across banking and finance, power, IT, healthcare, telecommunication, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and business process outsourcing sector. He had also worked earlier as Security Manager in Deutsche Bank managing command center operations covering India and Sri Lanka.

Swapnil holds a Masters Degree in Disaster Management from Tata Institute of Social Science (TISS), holds certification in ITIL V3 and ISO22301 BCMS Lead Implementer.

Dr. Reynaldo V. Ebora is the Executive Director of the Philippine Council for Agriculture, Aquatic and Natural Resources Research and Development, Department of Science and Technology (DOST-PCAARRD). He has previously served as Executive Director of the DOST-Philippine Council for Advanced Science and Technology Research and Development and Director of National Institute of Molecular Biology and Biotechnology, University of the Philippines Los Baños (BIOTECH-UPLB). He is also a Research Professor at BIOTECH-UPLB.

He obtained his BS Agriculture (Entomology), MS Entomology (Insect Pathology/Microbial Control) from the University of the Philippines Los Baños (UPLB), and PhD in Entomology from Michigan State University, USA. He also completed an International Post-graduate University Course in Microbiology at the Osaka University in Japan, and his post-graduate studies as Visiting Fellow on Intellectual Property Management/Technology Transfer at the International Service for the Acquisition of Agri-biotech Applications AmeriCenter, Department of Plant Breeding, Cornell University, Ithaca, New York, USA.

He was conferred with several awards and recognitions most notably the following: 2019 Kadunong Award given by the Central Bicol State University of Agriculture; 2017 Crop Science Society of the Philippines, Inc. Honorary Fellow Award; 2017 Filipino Faces of Biotechnology Awards given by the Dept. of Agriculture; 2016 William D. Dar Research Leadership Award by the Philippine Association of Research Managers, Inc. (PhilARM); 2016 University of the Philippines Alumni Association (UPAA) Distinguished Alumnus Award in Science and Technology (Biotechnology); Outstanding Science Administrator Award (Dioscoro Umali Medal) in 2014 and Outstanding Technology Commercialization Award (Gregorio Y. Zara Medal) in 2013 by the National Academy of Science and Technology (NAST) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST); and the UPLB College of Agriculture Distinguished Alumnus Award for Plant Biotechnology and Genetic Engineering in 2011.

Kevin Lee is the Executive Director of A Single Drop for Safe Water. and President of Single Drop Consultancy Services, both organizations working together to build capacities of government and communities for Water and Sanitation services. He is also the coordinator of the Humanitarian Response Consortium which is made up of 12 local organizations that supply relief services to vulnerable communities in times of crisis.

He was born in Johannesburg South Africa and raised by American parents in New Zealand where he graduated Auckland University in 1990, with a Bachelor of Mechanical Engineering. He worked for 5 years as a mechanical consultant with heavy industry getting his professional license. In 1995 he immigrated to the USA and worked for 7 years in the steel industry as a project engineer and ended up as a rolling mill manager. After a short stint back in project management for a pollution control equipment manufacturer.

In 2004 he started service in Ambaguio, Nueva Viscaya as a Peace Corps water and sanitation volunteer, successfully implementing a community built, LGU managed water system. At completion of his Peace Corps service he stayed in the Philippines starting A Single Drop for Safe Water with a partner. Since then, the organization with its dynamic and committed staff has evolved to this hybrid organization with 4 offices working nationwide. Along the way the ideas have been recognized with an Echoing Green Fellowship in 2007, while the work and impact recognized with a Tech Museum equality Laurette in 2010 and Ashoka Fellowship in 2015.

Sreeni Narayanan is the Founder and Group Managing Director of Asia Society for Social Improvement and Sustainable Transformation (ASSIST), an innovative and capacity-building international non-government organization that promotes sustainable practices to partner development organizations.

A Chemical Engineer by profession with an MBA from the Asian Institute of Management tucked under his belt, he has led ASSIST in managing projects in over 20 countries across Asia and maintaining offices in four – the Philippines, its headquarters; India; Vietnam; and, Cambodia.

Alongside these development partnerships, he has led organization’s Social Actions projects, which are all internally conceptualized and independently managed by ASSIST. These projects aim to challenge conventional thinking, spark positive change, and build enduring cooperation for progress in areas such as Skills and Jobs, Entrepreneurship, SME Development, and Digital Empowerment. All of these goals share the universal mission of building the resilience and uplifting the lives of Filipinos.

He is also behind ASSIST’s other social ventures, which include iMPACT Magazine (formerly ‘AsianNGO Magazine’), a first-of-its-kind mixed media magazine that aims to provide NGOs opportunities to find funds, partners and relevant learning resources for better organizational and program management.

Adam Switzer is a NRF Singapore Fellow who holds concurrent positions as Nanyang Assistant Professor at NTU and Principal Investigator at the Eath Observatory of Singapore (EOS). He is primarily a sedimentologist with interests in coastal geomorphology, palaeoenvironments and natural hazards. The overarching driver of his research is a desire to use geomorphological and sedimentological techniques to solve contemporary problems at local, regional and international scales. His main research interest lies in using coastal stratigraphy to define the recurrence interval of catastrophic marine inundation events (tsunami or large storms) and investigate the relationship between tectonics and climate change in coastal systems. After obtaining a BSc and PhD in Geosciences from the University of Wollongong, Australia he accepted an Endeavour Australia Cheung Kong fellowship to study at The University of Hong Kong where he held positions as Post-Doctoral Fellow and Centenary Research Assistant Professor.

Adam is an internationally recognized expert in tsunami and storm deposits and associated sedimentation. His most significant contributions to the field include the first study of modern storm deposits from the Australian southeast coast; the recognition that immature heavy mineral suites in coastal sandsheets may indicate tsunami deposition rather than storm deposition in coastal settings; the recognition of an erosional signature of large scale washover of coastal dunes using Ground Penetrating Radar; initial evaluation of the sedimentary processes associated with the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami on the southeast coast of India and a definitive review and re-analysis of large boulder accumulations in coastal settings on the southeast Australian coast.

His research program is well suited to the new Earth Observatory of Singapore and its desire to become a leader in earth science research in Asia as it spans the disciplines of earthquake science and climatic science. His research group has many projects focused in Asia and currently involves collaborations with people from 7 Asian nations. Globally, studies of the sedimentation and geomorphic affects of tsunami and storm surge have gained increasing popularity since the Indian Ocean tsunami of December 2004 and Hurricane Katrina in 2005. Recent research by his group and others on overwash deposits from many coastlines in Asia show that looking at the recurrence interval of such events is inherently complex.

Born & raised in Angeles City, Mr. Tayag was born to parents Renato Dayrit Tayag & Adoracion Henson Suarez, as the fourth eldest child with 7 brothers & 4 sisters. He finished elementary education at the Holy Family Academy in Angeles City, and high school at the Pampanga High School in San Fernando. Mr. Tayag then finished his Bachelor of Science in Business Management at the University of the Philippines Diliman in 1972, and his Masters in Business Economics at the University of Asia & the Pacific in 1998. He is the founder and manager of Mother Earth Products, Inc., a meat processing plant founded in 1984. Mr. Tayag has been active in the business community through the Metro Angeles Chamber of Commerce since 1984, and is heavily involved to this day. He is now focused on tree planting in the city’s watersheds in Barangays Sapangbato and Margot.

He is married Corito Rose Ocampo Tayag, with whom has 4 children: Rene Ricardo, Julian Paolo, Mia Kristina, and Renato III. He has 15 grandchildren, 11 boys and 4 girls.

Dr. Wu is a professor of Geotechnical Engineering. He obtained his master's and doctoral degrees of Geotechnical & Geoenvironmental Engineering and Disaster Management from Columbia University for a brief period of time. After that, he became a postdoctoral researcher in National Science and Technology Center for Disaster Reduction (NCDR), and subsequently an assistant professor at National University of Kaohsiung (NUK). He joined NUK in 2008 and was promoted to be an associate professor in 2014 and a professor in 2019. He was a visiting Scholar at Columbia University in 2010.

His major fields of research include natural disaster prevention and reduction, geosynthetic-reinforced soil structures, soil constitutive modeling, geotechnical earthquake engineering, numerical and centrifuge modeling. Recently, he has also looked into rainfall-induced slope instability, in addition to earthquake induced deformation and failure of geosystems. He collaborates actively with domestic and international institutions and agencies to have research and development related to disaster management.

Dr. Wu sets up and hosts the Science and Technology Center for Disaster Prevention and Reduction in the National University of Kaohsiung. The Center builds up a long-term partnership with Kaohsiung City Government to provide the consulting services to disaster prevention and protection works. Moreover, the Center continuously conducts analysis on various disaster potentials for Kaohsiung City to formulate the disaster prevention and protection policies and measurements, integrate the disaster prevention resources and reduce the loss from natural disasters and man-made disasters.

Representative Ryan Yamane currently serves as the Chair of the Water and Land Committee. He previously chaired the House Committee on Transportation from 2013-2014, and the House Committee on Health from 2009-2012 while dually serving as the vice chair of the Consumer Protection and Commerce Committee. He also previously chaired the House Tourism and Culture Committee from 2006-2008. Representative Yamane has dedicated himself to public service as a social worker, instructor, and disaster volunteer for the State of Hawaii. Representative Yamane represents the 37th State House District and has served in the Hawaii House of Representatives since 2005. Representative Yamane and his wife, Jennifer, have two young sons, Daniel and Gavan.

Asia Society for Social Improvement & Sustainable Transformation, Inc.

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About IDC 2019

Program

November 21, 2019

Event Agenda

PRACTICES | The Ripple Effect: Best Practices on Water Crisis Management

POLICIES + PARTNERSHIPS | Better Governance and Making Waves Together: Water Policy Reforms for Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships for Water Resilience

Resource Persons

Dr. Jikyeong Kang

Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go

Patrick Wesner

Butch Meily

Stephane Bessadi

Saroj Srisai

Kathleen Almonte

Frankie Arellano

Swapnil Bora

Dr. Vinod Thomas

Dr. Annadel Cabanban

Dr. Ephraim Cercado

Emmanuel De Guzman

Dr. Reynaldo Ebora

Benjamin Horton

Kevin Lee

Rohit Nara

Sreenivas Narayanan

Adam Switzer

Renato "Abong" Tayag

Geoffrey Wilson

Dr. Min-Hao Wu

Rep. Ryan Yamane

Sponsors and Partners

Event Tickets

Venue

Venue

Contact us

Asia Society for Social Improvement & Sustainable Transformation, Inc.

Contact us

About IDC 2019

Program

November 21, 2019

Event Agenda

PRACTICES | The Ripple Effect: Best Practices on Water Crisis Management

POLICIES + PARTNERSHIPS | Better Governance and Making Waves Together: Water Policy Reforms for Multi-Stakeholder Partnerships for Water Resilience

Resource Persons

Dr. Jikyeong Kang

Dr. Kenneth Hartigan-Go

Patrick Wesner

Butch Meily

Stephane Bessadi

Saroj Srisai

Kathleen Almonte

Frankie Arellano

Swapnil Bora

Dr. Vinod Thomas

Dr. Annadel Cabanban

Dr. Ephraim Cercado

Emmanuel De Guzman

Dr. Reynaldo Ebora

Benjamin Horton

Kevin Lee

Rohit Nara

Sreenivas Narayanan

Adam Switzer

Renato "Abong" Tayag

Geoffrey Wilson

Dr. Min-Hao Wu

Rep. Ryan Yamane

Sponsors and Partners

Organizers

Sponsors

Community Partners

Media Partners

Event Tickets

Venue

Venue

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