Disaster management activities pursued by different consortium partners are diverse and range from response capabilities and fundraising for disaster aid to awareness training, academic programme delivery, and research and knowledge transfer.
The extent and organisation of activities differs between institutions and depends on organisational size, structures and strategic priorities. Existing centres typically operate in an informal and ad hoc manner and without a clearly defined strategic function, or management/operational structure.
By creating Centres of Excellence in Disaster Resilience under the umbrella of a National Disaster Resilience Network, the BUiLD project is consolidating and formalising existing streams of activity within each participating university. Ensuring that these centres remain financially and operationally sustainable and that their activities remain relevant and impactful requires the formulation of a strategy for university governance
The vision behind the centres and the national disaster resilience network is to facilitate collaboration between universities and the public, private and third sector. Core activities include curriculum development, disaster awareness training, the facilitation of disaster response and recovery capability, fundraising for disaster aid, and networking for knowledge transfer, research and innovation.
Ensuring that these centres remain financially and operationally sustainable and that their activities remain relevant and impactful requires the formulation of a governance strategy by each participating university. Informed by current practice, the project is developing a BUiLD Best Practice Model for Disaster Resilience Governance and is overseeing the embedding of local adaptations.
The development of the eight Centres of Excellence and the creation of the National Disaster Resilience Network is overseen jointly by Universitas Islam Indonesia and Universitas Ahmad Dahlan in Yogyakarta. This includes the launch of local fundraising campaigns in support of disaster aid and recommendations for knowledge transfer, research and innovation. A blueprint and target operating model for disaster response and recovery capability is devised by the University of Gloucestershire, UK. A disaster awareness campaign for implementation in each university is being designed by Institute Polytechnic Porto, Portugal. The embedding of disaster resilience education into university curricula is overseen by University College Copenhagen, Denmark.
Progress of activities
| Audit of institutional activities and structures linked to disaster resilience | completed |
| Formulation of BUiLD Best Practice Model for HEI Disaster Resilience Governance | completed |
| Internal and external consultation | completed |
| Creation of governance structure and funding model for each Centre of Excellence | completed |
| Formalisation of each Centre of Excellence within institutional structures | completed |
| Dissemination of BUiLD Best Practice Model for University Disaster Resilience Governance through the National Resilience Network MaTTa Bencana | ongoing |