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i-Rec conference 2023

i-Rec international conference and workshop in Japan, June 1-4, 2023
 
 
Tensions Between Tradition and Innovation in Disaster Risk Reduction, Climate Action, and Reconstruction
Reflecting on Tohoku’s Recovery Twelve Years Later
 
Conference, workshops, and site visits in Sendai and the Tohoku region
 
The 2023 i-Rec conference and workshop will be held for the first time in Japan. Twelve years after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, this event coincides with beginning of the 2nd decade of recovery and reconstruction.  On March 11th 2011, the northeast Tohoku coast of Japan was struck by a M9 earthquake, followed by a massive and devastating tsunami, and a nuclear meltdown at the Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant in Fukushima prefecture.
 
As climate change brings larger and more frequent hazard events, holding the i-Rec 2022 Conference in the Asia-Pacific is a chance to learn from experts and practitioners who have been directly involved in recent reconstruction efforts. Communities in the region have experienced multiple disasters, but the area has also become a center of innovative and people-centered approaches to recovery. The i-Rec 2023 conference intends to foreground a discussion of methodologies and practices to produce change in reconstruction and risk reduction efforts, such as participatory action research and appreciative inquiry. The intention of this conference is thus to have a dual focus on the localized exchange of experiences and lessons of recovery in the Tohoku region in Japan, while at the same time to draw from the body of knowledge and build connections across the Asia-Pacific region.
 
i-Rec 2023 will be held in person in Sendai, Japan. We welcome submissions of papers related to the following 6 tracks/themes, which are both central to the issues we in Tohoku 12 years after the 3.11 disaster, experiences from the Asia-Pacific region, as well as global experiences of post-disaster recovery and reconstruction.
 
1. Public Policy and Disaster Risk Reduction in Recovery 
Risk-based planning after disaster
Building back better/ Balancing risk reduction and livelihood
Community-based DRR
Disaster education 
 
2. Relocation and Displacement 
Planning for relocation of homes and/or communities 
Nuclear evacuation and ongoing challenges in Fukushima
Impacts of multiple/Long term displacement 
Urban and community planning in reconstruction
 
3. Housing Recovery Policy and Advocacy
Case management and legal support for disaster survivors
Roles of recovery stakeholders
Disaster governance
Policy advocacy in reconstruction
 
4. Social Impacts of Disaster and Resilient Recovery
People-centered approaches and projects
Community participation in recovery planning
Impacts on the living environments 
Root causes of disaster/social vulnerability
 
5. Cultural Heritage and Memory
Preservation/disruption of traditional patterns of life
Documentation/ storytelling 
Narratives of disaster experience 
The roles of arts and culture in recovery 
Local history and living culture
 
6. Research Methodology for Disasters and Pandemics
Community-based/action research in disasters
Evolving research methodologies
Ethics and language in research 
Evolving practice in the pandemic era
 
The conference welcomes submissions in a variety of formats and media, including but not limited to traditional academic papers, to be included in the conference proceedings.  For academic papers, authors of selected papers will be invited to submit to a special issue in a disaster journal following the conference. 
 
Guidelines for Papers and Presentations
 
We welcome in-person presentations from authors (or co-authors) of all accepted abstracts.
 
For those who would like their papers to be considered for the Special Issue in a disaster journal organized following i-Rec 2023, please submit your full paper using the <Full Paper Template> by May 1, 2023.
 
For those who chose not to submit a full paper, please submit a 1-2 page extended abstract using the <Extended Abstract Template> by May 1st.
 
Full papers and a Book of Abstracts will be shared with participations of i-Rec 2023, and published as online proceedings after the conferences on the i-Rec website.
 
iRec 2023 Site Visit and Conference Schedule
 
6/1 One day bus tour visit to disaster-affected areas in Fukushima Prefecture
6/2 One day bus tour visit to disaster-affected areas in Ishinomaki, in Miyagi Prefecture
 
Both trips are one-day trips, by chartered bus, that will leave from Sendai Station in the morning, and return to Sendai Station in the evening of each day.
Participation in the 2 days of site visits is 10,000 Japanese yen, payable in cash on site.
 
6/3 Keynote speeches and panel discussions
6/4 Parallel sessions with academic paper presentations
 
The Conference venue on 6/3 and 6/4 is the International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University, in Sendai.  
 
The conference participation fee is 3,000 yen, and student participation fee is 2,000 yen, including a bento lunch on both days and coffee breaks.
 
In the evening on 6/3, there will be a welcome reception from 18:00-20:00 in the evening, for 4,000 yen per person.
 
All fees will be collected on site, in cash.
 
Registration has closed for i-Rec 2023.
Schedule :
Abstract Deadline: January 30, 2023
Acceptance Decision: March 30, 2023
Paper submission deadline: May 1, 2023
Send a 300-word abstract to: @
Venue: The International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University, Sendai, Japan
Organized by: i-Rec, the International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS) of Tohoku University, Kobe University Research Center for Urban Safety and Security (RCUSS), and the Center for Resilient Design (CResD), Kobe University.