The International Conference on The Demography of Disasters: Implications for Future Policy on Development and Resilience was held 18 - 20 September 2013 at University House. Convened by Associate Professor (adjunct) Helen James and her colleagues on the ARC discovery project, Demographic Consequences of Asian Disasters: Family Dynamics, Social Capital and Migration Patterns, some 122 participants attended from Australia, Japan, the USA, UK, Indonesia, Myanmar, China, Taiwan, and the Philippines.
Keynote speakers were Professor Elizabeth Frankenberg, Duke University, North Carolina, and Professor Susan Cutter, University of South Carolina. The reception which preceded the main conference was hosted by Pro Vice Chancellor (Student Experience) ANU, Professor Richard Baker who introduced and thanked the guest speaker Ms Nina P Cainglet, Deputy Chief of Mission Embassy of the Philippines. Pro Vice Chancellor (Research and Research Training) ANU, Professor Jenny Corbett, hosted the conference dinner at which the guest speaker was Dr Alan Ryan, Executive Director of the Australian Civil Military Centre, Canberra.
Paper presenters included Professor Mark Pelling, King's College London, Professor Douglas Paton, University of Tasmania, Professor Cynthia Zayas, and Professor Josefina Natividad, University of The Philippines, Professor Ken Miichi, Iwate Prefectural University, Japan, Professor Yang Chenggang, South-West University of Finance and Economics, Chengdu, Professor Tadjudding Nur Effendi, Gadjah Madah University, Indonesia, Professor Zhongwei-Zhao, ANU, Professor Jalal Abbasi-Shavazi, ANU, Dr Saw Saw, and Mr Tauhid Ibne Farid, Myanmar, Professor Xie Yong-gang, Heilongjiang University, China, and Professor Xia Mingfang, Renmin University, China as well as many from the NGO sector.
Discussions were very convivial throughout the two days of the conference and many friendships were made for future research collaborations.