A conference dedicated to the Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) was held at the Tsakhkadzor-based Russia Hotel on October 12. During the joint conference initiated by Armenian State Pedagogical University (ASPU) and UNICEF Armenia, representatives of interested departments/agencies/ and educational institutions focused on two main topics – “Mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction in School and Pre-School Institutions” and “Inclusion of DRR Concepts and Principles in the Curricula of Pedagogical Universities.”
The conference was opened by Ara Yeremyan, ASPU Vice-Rector for Personnel and International Cooperation, Candidate of Legal Sciences. In his opening remarks, Mr. Yeremyan stressed the importance of the programme and, citing a number of facts and figures, emphasized the importance of joint measures in the DRR-led recovery strategies and plans. The ASPU official stressed that it is very important to include in the curricula of pedagogical universities a training course on disaster risk reduction and management. He enumerated numerous disasters that can be somehow prevented, underlining the level of public awareness as a key prerequisite. Speaking about the Spitak earthquake [in December 1988] he said that Armenia would not have had the 25 000 victims and the great material losses if we had a state Disaster Risk Management programme and well-functioning infrastructures.
Mr. Yeremyan thanked all organizations that assisted in the implementation of the program, experts, heads of ASPU Chairs and other participants. He also offered special thanks to ASPU Rector Rouben Mirzakhanyan for his support for the programme and wished the attendees fruitful activities. “We should go ahead of disaster risks, leaving them behind us, i.e. we should direct all our efforts towards disaster risk reduction,” Rector of Crisis Management National Academy, Mr.
Hamlet Matevosyan, said in his speech.
He highlighted the formation of DRR culture and organization of continuous work in the educational system, starting from pre-school institutions to establishments of higher education. “It is not enough to teach the rules of demeanour; we need to shape a culture in the society that will change people’s mode of thinking so that they can be able to feel and see disasters as they arise,” he said. Mr. Matevosyan highlighted the role of the Pedagogical University in the aforesaid process and emphasized the noticeable progress in this direction.
Mr. Robert Stepanyan, Head of Division of Development Programmes and Monitoring, RA Ministry of Education and Science, spoke about the work done and said it was only part of a larger programme as disaster risk reduction implies large-scale and comprehensive work.
“We seek to have a country that is resilient to disasters and this has become a principle, a guideline for us,” said Mr. Movses Poghosyan, Director of DRR National Platform. He stressed the importance of developments and the necessity to keep abreast of new developments.
Mr. Tigran Tovmasyan, UNICEF DRR Programme Officer, spoke about child-centered DRR and activities to strengthen children’s capacity in disaster risk reduction in schools and pre-schools. He referred to the connection between education and DRR, stressing that the inclusion of disaster risk analysis/assessment/ and disaster risk reduction activities in educational programmes is a systematic approach. Then, he presented the key components of DRR.
Under the programme developed with the ASPU, the work was carried out in four main directions and included an expert group of high-quality professionals, university researchers and Masters of Science.
Coordinator of the programme Naira Hakobyan, Doctor of Psychology, Head of Division of Professional Qualification Improvement and MA Course, ASPU, professor and expert, delivered a summary report on “Education for Disaster Risk Reduction and Inclusion of DRR Concepts in the Curricula of Universities.”
This was followed by a number of thematic reports presented by Professor Karine Danielyan, Head of Chair of Sustainable Development, ASPU, Doctor of Geography, Associate Professor Lyudmila Avanesyan, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences, Professor Mels Mkrtumyan, Head of Chair of Theory and History of Psychology, Doctor of Psychology, Professor Laura Asatryan, Head of Chair of Theory and History of Pedagogy, Doctor of Pedagogy, Professor Hakob Grigoryan, Head of Chair of First Aid, Emergency and Civil Protection, Candidate of Pedagogical Sciences.
In their reports they referred to the inclusion of theoretical and practical problems of disaster risk management in various fields of pedagogical education, as well as to the formation of culture of disaster reduction, including disaster prevention, mitigation and preparedness.
In the second part of the conference the participants heard research reports made by postgraduate student Mariam Mehrabyan, MA student Knarik Papoyan and researcher Gohar Arakelyan, who presented the results of their survey in seven schools and four nursery schools of Armenia. They referred to the effectiveness of DRR training in schools and pre-school institutions, youth involvement in the process, school management plan.
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At the end of the conference the participants exchanged viewpoints and made important proposals. Those who addressed the conference suggested introducing [at school] a special subject on Disaster Risk Reduction. Participating in the conference was also Professor Srbouhi Gevorgyan, ASPU Vice-Rector for Educational and Scientific Affairs, Doctor of Psychology.
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