The Heritance Kandalama near Dambulla will be the setting for a major international conference on July 19-21 on the development of societal resilience to natural and human induced disasters, the organisers said this week.
The International Conference on Building Resilience will see the participation of over 65 international and 45 Sri Lankan academics, practitioners, professionals and policy makers concerned with interdisciplinary approaches to disaster risk reduction, and the development of sustainable communities and cities. The conference will also have a particular focus on the challenges associated with reconstruction of communities in a post-conflict environment.
The event is chaired by Prof. Dilanthi Amaratunga and Dr. Richard Haigh, from the Centre for Disaster Resilience, University of Salford, UK. Prof. Amaratunga is a graduate of the Department of Building Economics, University of Moratuwa, and later obtained her doctorate at the University of Salford. Prof. Amaratunga and Dr. Haigh are Editors of the International Journal of Disaster Resilience in the Built Environment and are currently leading a study into the impact of infrastructure reconstruction programmes on social cohesion among conflict affected communities.