REPORT ON THE INTERPRAEVENT INTERNATIONAL SYMPOSIUM, TOYAMA, JAPAN, 2018

Abstract

An International Symposium on Disaster Risk Reduction took place in the city of Toyama, Japan, October 1-4, 2018, with the leading theme “Large scale sediment disasters in orogenic zones and countermeasures”. The four-day work at the symposium was conducted in 6 themes; one day was devoted to a field visit under a selected topic from the symposium. The meeting was organized by the International Research Society INTERPRAEVENT, based in Klagenfurt, Austria, together with various Japanese organizers. At the meeting, 492 participants from 27 countries discussed and exchanged their knowledge and experience in the field of risk reduction in mountainous environments due to hazardous debris events. It was the latest event in a series of symposia on the topic of disaster risk reduction in the mountain environment in the Pacific Ocean, following symposia in Matsumoto (Japan, 2002), Niigata (Japan, 2006), Taipeh (Taiwan, 2010), and Nara (Japan, 2014). The article briefly summarizes the activities at the IP 2018 meeting in Toyama, with a focus on the Toyama Declaration 2018, and a short presentation of the historical Tateyama SABO projects in the Joganji river basin, which protects the City of Toyama.