Disaster Resilience of Education Systems - Experiences from Japan

Education is regarded as a cross-cutting issue for disaster risk reduction (DRR) through reviewing the Sendai Framework for DRR (SFDRR) 2015-2030. Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) in the education sector is one of the important efforts to enhance resilience in a community. DRR in the education sector not only focuses on provision of disaster education, but also includes securing a safe school environment, developing school disaster management plans, and building the capacity of school teachers and local educational officers. Japan, with its wealth of experience in DRR, has developed a good resilient system in its education sector, which has been tested and revised through experiences of past disasters.
This book reviews the evolution of DRR in the education sector in Japan, including some of the recent developments after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake, focusing on DRR governance and practices in national policies, curriculum development and teacher training, community linkage, and international cooperation, to enhance resilience in the education sector.
The primary target groups for this book are students and researchers in the fields of disaster management and DRR studies. Another target group comprises practitioners and policy makers, who will be able to apply the collective knowledge from this work to policy and decision making. The book provides an overview of the current research trends and furnishes basic knowledge on this important topic.



Koichi Shiwaku is a researcher in the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies of Kyoto University, Japan.  He has been working with central and local governments, NGOs, school teachers and students, and local communities in Japan and overseas countries.  His recent works are enhancing school disaster resilience and capacity development of officers of board of education in the area affected by the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. His research interests are disaster education, community based disaster risk management, governance for disaster education, school safety, and capacity development of local government.
Aiko Sakurai is an associate professor in the International Research Institute of Disaster Science (IRIDeS), Tohoku University, Japan. She has worked in international educational development in Yemen and Vietnam and started to be involved in a field of disaster education since the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake. Her recent work is developing a school-based disaster education model at post-disaster phase in Asian countries. Her research interests include comprehensive school safety, education recovery from disaster, and school-based disaster management and education. 
Rajib Shaw was Professor in the Graduate School of Global Environmental Studies of Kyoto University, Japan. He worked closely with the local communities, NGOs, governments and international organization, including United Nations, especially in the Asian countries. He is currently the Co-chair of the United Nations Asia Science Technology Academia Advisory Group (ASTAAG) and the President of Asian University Network of Environment and Disaster Management (AUEDM). His research interests are community-based disaster risk management, climate change adaptation, urban risk management and disaster and environmental education. He has published several books in the field of disaster and environmental management. He is also the Chief Editor of Asian Journal of Environment and Disaster Management.