3:45 PM - 4:00 PM
[SVC32-08] Efforts to improve disaster preparedness on foot of Agung Volcano by Yamanashi Prefecture
Keywords:disaster prevention education, Agung Volcano
There are 127 active volcanoes in the Republic of Indonesia, and eruption disasters have occurred frequently in recent years. For example, the 2010 eruption of Mount Merapi caused human casualties in the surrounding areas due to the delay in evacuation. Since there is a high possibility that active volcanoes in Indonesia will erupt in the future, it is important to raise awareness of volcanic disaster prevention among residents living near volcanoes so that they can proactively take evacuation action when an eruption occurred.
Mount Agung is the highest volcano in Bali and has erupted in 1843, 1963, and 2017. Although the 2017 eruption did not cause human casualties, it caused twice as many evacuees as the government had estimated and created social problems such as sanitation, food, and distribution of relief supplies in evacuation centers. These problems can be attributed to the lack of correct knowledge about volcanoes and insufficient understanding of warning information among the surrounding population. Continuous education is necessary for the dissemination of knowledge and correct understanding of volcanoes, especially since volcanic eruptions can have long eruption intervals. Therefore, disaster prevention education targeting children is effective. However, there is no such educational program in Indonesia, and it is difficult to implement such a program at the school level, and there is no coordination among local government disaster management bureaus and voluntary disaster management organizations. In light of this situation, at the request of local communities, JICA initiated the project for "Building a disaster-resistant community through the utilization of local universities as a base for responding to low-frequency, large-scale disasters" under JICA Partnership Program for 2022–2024. In February 2023, a workshop on volcanic disaster prevention was held in Busakhi village on foot of Agung Volcano. The workshop included discussions and exchanges of opinions with the university, local government disaster management bureaus, volunteer groups, and elementary school teachers. Through the discussions, we were able to confirm a common understanding that voluntary evacuation based on eruption information is important and that disaster prevention education should be continued not only at the educational level but also through the cooperation of specialized organizations. In this presentation, we will report on the details of the workshop and the planned activities of the project.
Mount Agung is the highest volcano in Bali and has erupted in 1843, 1963, and 2017. Although the 2017 eruption did not cause human casualties, it caused twice as many evacuees as the government had estimated and created social problems such as sanitation, food, and distribution of relief supplies in evacuation centers. These problems can be attributed to the lack of correct knowledge about volcanoes and insufficient understanding of warning information among the surrounding population. Continuous education is necessary for the dissemination of knowledge and correct understanding of volcanoes, especially since volcanic eruptions can have long eruption intervals. Therefore, disaster prevention education targeting children is effective. However, there is no such educational program in Indonesia, and it is difficult to implement such a program at the school level, and there is no coordination among local government disaster management bureaus and voluntary disaster management organizations. In light of this situation, at the request of local communities, JICA initiated the project for "Building a disaster-resistant community through the utilization of local universities as a base for responding to low-frequency, large-scale disasters" under JICA Partnership Program for 2022–2024. In February 2023, a workshop on volcanic disaster prevention was held in Busakhi village on foot of Agung Volcano. The workshop included discussions and exchanges of opinions with the university, local government disaster management bureaus, volunteer groups, and elementary school teachers. Through the discussions, we were able to confirm a common understanding that voluntary evacuation based on eruption information is important and that disaster prevention education should be continued not only at the educational level but also through the cooperation of specialized organizations. In this presentation, we will report on the details of the workshop and the planned activities of the project.