Global Institute for Energy and Environmental Systems (GIEES)

The 2005 International Conference on "Energy, Disasters, and Environment"

 International Conference on “Energy, Disasters, and Environment” (To be announced officially on or about September 2003. The venue is Charlotte, NC in late May or early June, 2005.  This conference will be integrated and fully coordinated with other international conferences being planned by UN-ISDR, the Government of Japan, and others during 2005.)

 The long-term goal: To provide a forum and strategic and tactical leadership for fostering a sustained global collaboration that will lead to the implementation over time of  Topical and Regional Blueprints for Change through synergistic intra-and inter-regional programs, projects, and networking activities.

Objectives: To identify and implement timely intra-and inter-regional strategies for involving NEW people, engaging in dialogue on NEW ideas, developing NEW paradigms, sharing NEW knowledge, initiating NEW collaborations, recognizing NEW problems, identifying NEW opportunities and solutions to problems, and creating NEW plans to undertake NEW endeavors that will enhance self reliance and protect people, property, cultural heritage, and the environment on local, national, regional, and global scales.

Abstract: In recognition of the urgent global  needs for increasing self reliance and political and technical capacity needed for devising and implementing public policies on energy, disaster reduction, and the environment,  a firm institutional commitment has been made by the Global Institute for Energy and Environmental Systems (GIEES) in cooperation with partners and sponsoring organizations to convene an International Conference in May-June, 2005.  The goal is to accelerate the creation and implementation of programs and projects  that will meet the real and perceived needs in each geographic region of the world, especially in the regions and sub-regions that have been ignored or overlooked. The aim is make this meeting more than a conference, establishing  a new paradigm for capacity building and strategic planning to improve higher education, sustainability and technical assistance. The strategic objectives include: 1) convening forums to build self reliance and increase technical and political capacity in each of the seven geographic regions, 2) enlisting  government, corporate, and institutional sponsors and donors in each of the seven geographic regions,  3) finding new government and non-government resources to provide  seed money for new programs and projects or as supplemental resources  to sustain  and/or expand existing programs and projects in each region, 4)  convening short courses to build technical capacity in each geographic region, 5) publishing the Global and Regional Blueprints for Change, 6) disseminating the next edition of the “Toolbox for Global Disaster Reduction” in conjunction with a multi-volume text book on “sustainability,” and 7) increasing the membership of GADR to at least 4,000.  All members of the Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction will have an opportunity to contribute to the goal and objectives.  Leadership for these tasks will be provided by the Strategic Leadership Council, the Advisory Committee, and the Capacity Building Teams of the Global Alliance for Disaster Reduction.