Latest news: Regional Office for Asia and Pacific

IUPsyS workshop on psychological intervention after disasters

Nor Zaneeda Norman — 2012-02-22T04:30:00Z

The International Union of Psychological Science, in partnership with the Chinese Psychological Society and the ICSU Regional Office for Asia and the Pacific (ICSU ROAP) conducted a capacity development workshop to enhance capacity in the Asia-Pacific region for psychological intervention after disasters. The workshop was held in Beijing, China from 18 to 22 February 2012, and was attended by 20 participants from China, India, Indonesia, Malaysia, New Zealand, Sri Lanka, and Thailand. Faculty members consisted of Professor Rainer Silberisen (University of Jena, Gernany), Professor Kang Zhang (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Professor Shu Li (Chinese Academy of Sciences), Professor Marinus van Ijzendoorn (Leiden University), Professor Joop de Jong (University of Amsterdam), and Professor Abigail Gewirtz (University of Minnesota). Workshop sessions consisted of presentations by the faculty, supervised small group work related to the presentations by faculty, report of small group tasks in plenary, and poster presentations by participants. A round-table discussion entitled Recognising National Needs: The Case of Capacity Building for Disasters and Bereavement was also held on the final day of the workshop.

Call for nominations IRDR Scientific Committee Membership

Nor Zaneeda Norman — 2012-01-14T17:15:00Z

The ICSU international programme on Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) is inviting international organizations, institutions and academies with experience in disaster risk reduction, members of scientific community, IRDR sponsors and partners to nominate candidates for the IRDR Scientific Committee.

The IRDR Programme is governed by a 15-Member Scientific Committee (SC). The SC is comprised of disaster risk reduction experts from around the world. Members are chosen on the basis of their scientific specialty as well as to ensure geographical and demographic balance, and represents a broad spectrum of disciplines in the natural, social and engineering sciences.

Based on the current committee IRDR have identified the following areas of need:

Social scientists, seismologist, volcanologist, meteorologist, disaster risk managers
Representatives from Latin America, Africa, Middle East/Arab States
Female candidates are encouraged

Responsibilities of IRDR SC Members:

To define, develop and prioritize plans of IRDR
To establish and maintain a mechanism for oversight of the Programme activities
To publicize and promote the IRDR findings
To assure and facilitate cooperation and integration with relevant national, regional and international programmes, organizations and institutions actively involved in disaster management
To adopt and apply guidance for establishment of IRDR initiatives in national or regional levels, such as IRDR National Committees (IRDR NC), IRDR International Centres of Excellence (ICoE)
To mobilize funds for the implementation of IRDR and its related activities of SC and Working Groups (WGs)

Nomination Procedure

The process will follow the following steps:

1. All nominating bodies are requested to submit a completed CV template to the IRDR International Programme Office (IPO) via yaoying.cheng@irdrinternational.org by 31 January 2012.

Exceptionally, proposals may be accepted from interested individuals who feel they have the qualities and experience to serve on IRDR SC. In this case a cover letter should be addressed to the Chair IRDR SC, Sálvano Briceño stating your vision for IRDR, your potential contribution and how your membership will impact on the goals and objectives of the Programme.

2. IRDR SC will review all materials and make a short list of potential nominees which will be submitted to the IRDR Co-Sponsors.

3. The IRDR Co-sponsors will examine the nominations and decide upon the individuals to serve on the Committee.

4. The Chair of IRDR SC will invite the successful nominees to join the Committee. The 3-year term as the new IRDR SC Member will commence from April/May of 2012

Contact

For further information contact the IRDR IPO through:

Ms.Yaoying Cheng

Science Officer
Tel: + 86 10 8217 8917 (direct)

Fax: + 86 10 8217 8913

Email: yaoying.cheng@irdrinternational.org

Web: www.irdrinternational.org

International Union of Psychological Science (IUPsyS) call for applications to workshop on building capacity for psychological intervention after disasters in the Asia and Pacific region

Nor Zaneeda Norman — 2011-12-15T03:40:00Z

The workshop aims to:

Present participants with the most recent scientific and applied scientific evidence and knowledge on Psychological Intervention after Disasters;
Show the constraints and opportunities of working with particular target groups, such as children and adolescents;
Develop relevant knowledge provision, education and training in academic programs of psychology;
Help in developing a regional network to support continuance in scientific research and training in mental health support following disaster.

The Asia-Pacific Workshop 2012 is intended for:

Researchers, educators, and practitioners from across the entire Asia-Pacific region, who have an academic background, primarily in psychology, and who are interested and experienced in work on disasters
Psychologists who work with particular target groups, such as children and adolescents
Young and early career scientists from Asian-Pacific countries

Successful applicants will receive the following support from IUPsyS:

Accommodation: Costs will be covered and accommodation will be provided in a good quality hotel .
Transport: Costs will be covered by the workshop (most economic available, for example, economy airfare).
Letter of Invitation: A formal letter of invitation to participants to help raise funds and obtain visas to attend the workshop will be sent by Chinese Academy of Sciences.

Closing date for applications: 30 December 2011

Interested candidates must fill in the application form and send the completed form to IUPsyS via email: IUPsySCB@psych.ac.cn or via fax: +8610-64872070.

Call for nominations: Scientific Committee Urban Health and Wellbeing

Nor Zaneeda Norman — 2011-12-09T06:25:00Z

Following the decision of the 30th General Assembly (Rome, September 2011), ICSU invites submission of nominations for experts to serve on the Scientific Committee for the new ten-year international programme on Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment: a systems analysis approach.

The published science plan for this programme is available at Health and Wellbeing in the Changing Urban Environment . The Scientific Committee will be made up of leading experts from a range of disciplines including natural, social, behavioural and health sciences, as well as in urban planning and engineering. Expertise in systems analysis and multi-factorial modelling will be advantageous and experience and willingness to work with aninterdisciplinary group will be essential. As for all ICSU committees, gender and geographic balance will also be taken into account.

The committee will meet twice a year for 2-3 days, mainly in Paris and there will be some work between meetings. Initial appointments will be for 3-years starting in mid 2012. The success of this new programme depends very much on the quality and commitment of the Scientific Committee. The final decision on the committee membership will be made by the Executive Board in April, 2012, following advice from the Committee on Scientific Planning and Review.

Please note that the deadline for nominations is 24 February 2012. For further information please contact rohini@icsu.org