BEIJING—Mr Makoto Mizutani will be a keynote speaker at the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) Conference 2014 in Beijing, China from June 7-9, 2014.  Mizutani will present “For Accelerating the Reconstruction from the Great East Japan Earthquake.”  His presentation addresses the policy and measures of the Government of Japan against the Great East Japan Earthquake (GEJE) – struck along the pacific coast of Japan’s Tohoku region on 11 March 2011, and triggered a powerful tsunami, which devastated much of the Tohoku coastal area and precipitated the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. The earthquake claimed 15,848 lives (officially recorded death toll as of 10 February 2012  from WHO Western Pacific Region). Mizutani will introduce the situation overview and reconstruction processes of affected areas.

Mr Makoto Mizutani is a Counselor within the Reconstruction Agency of the Government of Japan. He joined the Government of Japan (Ministry of Transport) in 1987 and was engaged in the planning, processing, design, and management of transport projects in Japan and developing countries. Most recently, Mizutani has been involved in the reconstruction of infrastructure from the Great East Japan Earthquake after moving to the Reconstruction Agency as a Counselor in 2012.

The second IRDR Conference, under the theme, “Integrated Disaster Risk Science: A Tool for Sustainability,” will place emphasis on the importance of science as a tool to address hazard risks and issues of sustainable development. Other internationally recognized speakers include management strategist Bill Nicol, Senator Loren Legarda from the Philippines, Nathaniel Forbes of Forbes Calamity Prevention Pte Ltd and Professor Virginia Murray from the Public Health England.

The registration for the IRDR Conference 2014, which will be hosted at the Beijing International Convention Center, is now open. To learn more about the 2014 IRDR Conference and register, visit our website at http://www.irdrinternational.org/conference-2014/.

The IRDR Conference 2014 is being organized by IRDR International Programme Office and China Association for Science and Technology.