The notion of "Forensic Disaster Investigations" has been coined by the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) initiative. It has been defined as an "approach to studying natural disasters that aims at uncovering the root causes of disasters through in-depth investigations" and that "will help build an understanding of how natural hazards do – or do not – become disasters". The core of this new style of analysis is to examine disasters using a multidisciplinary framework with a focus on the complex interactions between (1) the natural hazard, (2) the technical installations, facilities, and infrastructures, and (3) the societal structures, institutions and capacities.
We welcome submissions on event centred research aiming to learn from a disaster for improving risk management and “building back better”. We are interested in contributions which cover some of the following aspects: geophysical or atmospheric processes, technological and structural, ecological, sociological, socio-anthropological or economic aspects of all types of damage, preparedness, emergency response, disaster relief and rehabilitation. Also investigations on the effectiveness of existing policy including recommendations for future policy improvements are in the scope of the session. Abstracts are sought from those involved in both the theoretical and practical aspects of the above mentioned or related topics.
This session is supported by CEDIM - Center for Disaster Management and Risk Reduction Technology (http://www.cedim.de) with its current research focus on “Forensic Disaster Analyses” which adopts the comprehensive understanding of disasters while incorporating a real-time component to impact assessment, complementing the IRDR activities.