VICTORIA – BC’s industrial, commercial and institutional builders will join geological scientists and emergency management professionals in Victoria this spring to share perspectives on mitigating hazard risk and improving disaster resilience in the built environment.
Hosted by the BC Construction Association (BCCA) as part of April’s Construction Month activities, the symposium is affiliated with the World Bank’s Understanding Risk (UR) initiative, which is recognized as the preeminent global platform for collaboration, knowledge sharing, and innovation in identifying and assessing disaster risk.
The UR+BC event is the first in which the construction sector is playing a pivotal role, reflecting BC’s continued leadership in interdisciplinary preparedness and response for hazards of earthquake, fire, tsunami, and flood.
“BC is one of the world’s extreme multi-hazard zones: the construction industry must champion a strong built environment” notes Chris Atchison, BCCA President.
“BC’s seismic code requires only that a building “Fail Safe”, and fully 70 per cent of our buildings were constructed before seismic code existed. There is work to be done.”
John Sherstobitoff, Principal Seismic & Structures at Ausenco, Chair of National Building Code of Canada Standing Committee on Earthquake Design, and Founding President of Earthquake Engineering Research Institute-BC, agrees. “Working closely with the construction sector is an exciting development for those working on earthquake risk reduction – collaborations help us redefine what’s possible and shrink the gap between science, policy and real-world action.”
The April 16 and 17 symposium features 3 plenary discussions and six workshops, with topics such as:
- How does the built environment impact capacity to withstand and recover from natural hazard events?;
- How can we inspire the construction, infrastructure, and development sectors to reduce risk and build resiliently before events – and build back better after events?; and
- What are the business opportunities presented by a comprehensive resilience strategy for our built environment that integrates energy, climate adaptation, and seismic mitigation policy and approach?
Insights and knowledge gained through the symposium with be shared with the BC community of practise, and with the broader global community through the World Bank’s Understanding Risk Platform. As part of the World Bank’s initiative to keep the UR events accessible to all, tickets to the two-day event are only $95.
Sponsors play a key role in delivery: please join BCCA, the Insurance Bureau of Canada, Emergency Management BC, LNG Canada, and other industry leaders in supporting this significant new event.
For more information, visit the event website.
