Disasters in the Infrastructure: Response and Assessment

The workshop occurred October 28 and 29, 2010. To download a copy of the workshop proceedings, please visit our Project Research page. To download an audio recording of Professor Louise Comfort’s keynote address or Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer Dr. Robert Strang’s lunchtime address, please visit the Multimedia Files page . Chaired by: Dr. Kevin Quigley (School of Public Administration) & Dr. Ron Pelot (Industrial Engineering)

October 28: 4:00pm to 7:00pm – Reception and Keynote Lecture

Location: McInnis Room, Student Union Building, Dalhousie University, Halifax

Keynote Address: Dr. Louise Comfort ”Designing Resilience for Communities at Risk”

For more information on Louise Comfort, please click here.

October 29: 8:30am to 5:00pm CIP Workshop

Location: Atlantica Hotel, 1890 Robie Street, Halifax [Google Map]

Lunchtime Speaker: Dr. Robert Strang Nova Scotia’s Chief Medical Officer of Health

Detailed Program

To download a copy of detailed workshop program in Adobe Acrobat format, please click on the icon  (pdf – 72Kb): Adobe Acrobat file

The BP Oil Spill, H1N1, floods in Pakistan and China and the earthquakes in Haiti and Chile; all events that have occurred in the last twelve months remind us of the fragility and interdependence of modern infrastructure and the significant social, economic and environmental risks inherent in such low probability occurrences. Limited resources means technologies must be exploited and people coordinated more effectively to support better emergency management policy and operations. Responses must be rapid, and often taken in spite of incomplete information. For good or for ill, the decisions we take will be interpreted and assessed by experts, critics and lay people alike. This year’s workshop will feature two panels:

Capability-based planning and deploying resources effectively during the ramp-up and ramp-down phases of a disaster; New research on media coverage of Canadian and international natural disasters, terrorist plots, pandemics, food contamination and technical failures.

Each panel will focus on the operational implications for managers, policy-makers and communications specialists working in emergency management. Breakout sessions will follow each panel. Who should attend:

Public, private and not-for-profit sectors; emergency management staff; operational risk managers; communications staff; policy advisors.

For more information on the Critical Infrastructure Protection Initiative please explore this website, call 902-494-3742, or email us at cip@dal.ca