CIOB funded research project launched in Sri Lanka
Mon, 19 Sep 2016 10:22:00 BST
“Long-term sustainability of the post-disaster housing re-construction projects” research project was formally launched in Sri Lanka on 16th August. Chief Guest of the event was Mr S.S Miyanawala, Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management in Sri Lanka. The event was held at Taj Samudra Hotel in Colombo and was attended by over 30 high-level invited delegates representing various government departments, private organisations, not-for-profit organisations and higher education institutes involved in post-disaster re-construction work in Sri Lanka. Dr Asiri Karunawardena; Director General of NBRO delivered the welcome address.
The project “Long-term sustainability of the post-disaster housing re-construction projects” is a collaboration between Aston University (PI: Dr Gayan Wedawatta), University of Huddersfield (CoI: Prof Bingu Ingirige) and the National Building Research Organisation (NBRO) Sri Lanka (Mr Kishan Sugathapala and a research team from NBRO). The project is funded by the Chartered Institute of Building (CIOB) Bowen Jenkins Fund. The project seeks to investigate the long-term performance of post-disaster housing reconstruction projects and make recommendations for effective, sustainable housing re-construction following natural disasters.
Mr Miyanawala; Secretary to the Ministry of Disaster Management in Sri Lanka welcomed the research initiative and urged the relevant stakeholders to support the initiative. He also highlighted the timeliness and policy/practice relevance of the current research initiative for the Sri Lankan context. Prof Bingu Ingirige delivered the key note address at the event on ‘Sustainability of post-disaster housing: Some theoretical perspectives from a resilience lens’. Dr Wedawatta introduced the project and facilitated a panel discussion on issues related to sustainability of post-disaster housing. The panel discussion followed a number of invited speeches on post-disaster housing. Panel discussion and comments from the invitees provided valuable feedback on the planned research activities and enabled the project team to establish links with the relevant stakeholders. A special issue of the NBRO newsletter was issued in line with the project launch.
