Testimonials from past IDRC conferences
Arnold, Margaret
Head of ProVention Consortium, Geneva, Switzerland
"Disaster risk management is important because it is all about development."
Bogardi, Janos
Vice-Rector a.i. and Director UNU-EHS, Bonn, Germany
IDRC: "A strong cross-disciplinary program and one of the key networking events for practitioners, policy makers, and academics working in fields related to disaster risk management."
Brem, Stefan
Head of Risk Analysis and Research Coordination
Swiss Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport Federal Office for Civil Protection Policy Division, Bern, Switzerland
"IDRC...provides an important platform not only to share experiences, but also to boost action and improve best practices."
Burton, Ian
Professor Emeritius., University of Toronto, Scientist Emeritus, Meteorological Service of Canada, Toronto, Canada
"IDRC 2008 promises to be an even richer experience. It is an event I would not miss"
Cardona, Omar D.
Professor and Researcher, Institute of Environmental Studies, National University of Colombia, Bogota, Columbia
"IDRC Davos 2008 will be an opportunity to share and know more on the effectiveness of disaster risk management performance in different places of the world."
Dell'Ambrogio, Mauro
Swiss State Secretary for Education and Research, Bern, Switzerland
"The IDRC Congress in Davos is an ideal platform to inform about latest scientific results, to exchange experiences and to ensure a truly global and integrated approach to disaster management."
Eiser, Richard J.
Professor, Department of Psychology, University of Sheffield, Sheffield, UK
"... researchers, practitioners and policymakers from around the world concerning issues across the whole range of disasters and risks."
Ferroni, Marco
Executive Director, Syngenta Foundation for Sustainable Agriculture, Basel, Switzerland
"The IDRC Congress in Davos is an important interdisciplinary thinking and action platform for analysts and policymakers to share good practice and the latest in analytical and risk management tools."
Fust, Walter
CEO/ Director General Global Humanitarian Forum GHF, Geneva, Switzerland
"IDRC is a great opportunity to increase knowledge and to share experiences"
Goetz, Andreas
Vice Director, Swiss Federal Office for the Environment FOEN, Bern, Switzerland
"Disaster risk management has been and continues to be a basic condition for a prosperous society."
Jeggle, Terry
Sr. Advisor, UN ISDR secretariat, Geneva, Switzerland
"...the importance and effectiveness of this cross-disciplinary personal contact cannot be overstated..."
Kaye, David
FCII FBCI FRSA MIRM, Risk Reality, Institute of Risk Management, Springfields, UK
"As shown in survey after survey, understanding and managing risk has never been more important to an organisation, whether it be profit making or public service."
Kleinberg, Judith
Vice President, Chief Operating Officer and General Counsel of InSTEDD, Palo Alto, USA
"Disaster and risk management are essential elements in the fabric of social equity and economic stability..."
Kyoji, Sassa
Professor Emeritus, International Consortium on Landslides, Kyoto, Japan
"I attended the first IDRC Davos 2006. It was a very good meeting to know many colleagues from the world."
Lipman, Geoffrey
Assistant Secretary-General of UN World Tourism Organization (UNWTO), Madrid, Spain
"...UNWTO therefore cannot but stress the importance of the role of risk and crisis management for tourism and for the other allied sectors..."
Loster, Thomas
Director, Munich Re Foundation, Munich, Germany
"Disaster risk management is a key issue in a world with increasing natural disasters. The IDRC Davos is the event to find adequate solutions and a must for the worldwide disaster risk management community."
Mangkusubroto, Kuntoro
Director of the Agency for Rehabilitation and Reconstruction of Aceh and Nias, Indonesia
"...through IDRC Davos 2008, I believe we can share the invaluable lessons from the 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami recovery while, at the same time, learn from those of the rest of the world."
Mascarenhas Adolfo C.
Professor and Vice Chairman, Links Trust, Dar Es Salaam, Tanzania
"Concerns for Disaster and Risk Management are particularly important in Africa because it is an initial form of insurance."
McNeely, Jeffrey A.
IUCN Chief Scientist, Gland, Switzerland
"Disaster and risk management have always been important to human societies,..."
Murria, Juan
Ingeniero Consultor Asesor de la Fundacion Venezolana de Investigaciones Sismologicas (FUNVISIS), Caracas, Venezuela
"...new and worse disasters, making disaster risk reduction at the global level a task to which we have to dedicate our best efforts..."
Mutagamba, Maria
Minister of State for Water, Uganda
"My expectations for IDRC Davos 2008 are to see how mitigation and adaptation policies as well as disaster relief and humanitarian assistance protect the most vulnerable parts of the population (women, Children and the elderly)."
Nordby, Trygve G.
Secretary GeneralNorwegian Red Cross, Oslo, Norway
"... IDRC Davos 2008 is an important forum to develop common analysis and necessary insight allowing contingency- and long term planning."
Otto-Zimmerman, Konrad
General Secretary, ICLEI Local Governments for Sustainability, Toronto, Canada
"IDRC Davos 2008 must mark the start of increased support to local governments for community based, urban disaster risk reduction."
Renn, Ortwin
Director of the Interdisciplinary Research Unit for Risk Governance and Sustainable Technology Development (ZIRN), Stuttgart, Germany
"If IDRC were not present in this world it would need to be invented."
Rouhban, Badaoui
Chief of Section for Disaster Reduction, UNESCO, Paris, France
"IDRC Davos 2008 is expected to address both the scientific and societal implications of risks of different nature. "
Scholl, Willi
Director Swiss Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport Swiss Federal Office for Civil Protection Policy Division, Bern, Switzerland
"...IDRC can facilitate the exchange of experiences and lessons learnt and help to fulfill our core task: protecting our population and its vital resources."
Schwaetzer, Irmgard
Board of Management, DKKV, Bonn, Germany
"The implementation of disaster reduction is an economic imperative but at the same time an ethic obligation for all of us."
Shah, Haresh C.
Professor of Engineering, Emeritus, Stanford University, Founder and Senior Advisor Risk Management Solutions, Inc., Stanford, USA
"IDRC Davos is an excellent forum where ideas, concerns, challenges and opportunities can be discussed, shared and implementable actions developed."
Shi, Peijun
Professor and Vice-President, Beijing Normal University, Beijing, China
"Disaster and risk management is a way to scientific development which focus on harmony between human and nature."
Stoessel, Franz
Special Advisor DRR
SDC Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation, Berne, Switzerland
"I expect from the IDRC 2008 a strong contribution to fill gaps of and to network different initiatives of different stakeholders involved and to emblaze a holistic Disaster and Risk Management approach."
Thomas, Anisya S.
Co-Founder, Fritz Institute, San Francisco, CA, USA
"With the number of disasters and people affected by disasters growing so dramatically, this is a very important area for cross national collaboration, research and learning."
Vellutini, Roberto
Manager of Infrastructure and Environment, INE
Inter-American Development Bank, IDB, Washigton D.C. , USA
"Disaster risk management is a multi-faceted endeavour that requires a multi-instrumental approach."
Veulliet, Eric
Director, alpS Natural Hazards Management,
Innsbruck, Austria
"IDRC is really the international, scientific "KnowHow-transfer-plattform" for Risk and disaster management."
Wang, Shaoyu
Professor and Director, Department of Regional Economics, HIT Harbin Institute of Technology, Harbin, China (Executive Chairman IDRC Harbin 2007)
"IDRC will become the bridge and the platform which can link and congregate worldwide specialists and practicers of disaster risk management..."
Warner, Koko
Head of Section Social Vulnerability and Environmental Migration,UNITED NATIONS UNIVERSITY (UNU-EHS), Bonn, Germany
"...IDRC successfully brings together the top practitioners and experts across the board."