Bangladesh being one of the most natural disaster-prone countries in the world, timely initiatives are required to ensure disaster resilience. With this view, a 2-day long symposium titled “International Symposium on Disaster Risk Reduction: Towards a Disaster Resilient Bangladesh Through Integrated Cooperation” was organized by BUET-JIPDUS on 12 and 13 October, 2021 over online platform Zoom. 

The inauguration ceremony on October 12, 2021, marked the start of a significant symposium. Satya Prasad Majumder, honorable vice-chancellor, BUET graced the ceremony as the chief guest along with Prof. Abdul Jabbar Khan, pro-vice chancellor, BUET as the special guest.  Prof. A.F.M. Saiful Amin, director of BUET-JIDPUS was the chair of the ceremony. Participants from academia from national and international arena attended the symposium. Alongside, personnel from government and nongovernment agencies such as Bangladesh Army, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited, Power Cell, Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha, Bangladesh Meteorological Department, the United Nations Development Programme were present and exchanged ideas during the sessions. 

Titles of the presented papers, name of authors and respective organizations are listed below- 

Day 1: 12 October, 2021 

1. ” Earthquake Early Warning in Japan”, by Prof. Dr. Susumu Ohno, Tohoku University, Japan 
2. “Earthquake and Tsunami monitoring system in Bangladesh” by Mr. Momenul Islam, Bangladesh Meteorological Department 
3. “Development of Earthquake Early Warning System in Bangladesh” by Prof. Dr. AFM Saiful Amin, Director, BUET-JIDPUS, BUET 
4. “A Disaster Resilient Power Sector Can Ensure Economic Development of Bangladesh ” by Engr. Mohammad Hossain, Power Cell, Power Division, Ministry of Power, Energy & Mineral Resources 
5. “Earthquake Disaster Risk Reduction and Initiatives by Rajdhani Unnayan Kartipakkha (RAJUK) (The Capital Development Authority of Bangladesh) under The Ministry of Housing and Public Works ” Engr. Abdul Latif Helaly, RAJUK  

Day 2: 13 October 2021 

1. ” Assessment of the impact of global warming on water regime and floods in Bangladesh” by Prof. Dr. A.K.M. Saiful Islam, Director, IWFM, BUET
2. ” Collaborative Efforts for Earthquake Disaster Mitigation in Bangladesh- Activities and Outputs from Bangladesh- Japan Joint Project TSUIB under JICA/JST Collaborative Research Program SATREPS” by Prof. Dr. Yoshiaki Nakano, University of Tokyo, Japan
3. ” Implementation and Enforcement of Bangladesh National Building Code 2020″ by Prof. Dr. Raquib Ahsan, Dept. of CE, BUET 
4. ” National Resilience Program in Bangladesh” by Mr. Palash Mondal, National Resilience Programme (NRP) United Nations Development Programme 
5. “Seismic Evaluation and Retrofit of Existing Buildings in Bangladesh- Introduction of SATREPS TSUIB project” by Prof. Dr. Masaki Maeda, Tohoku University, Japan 
6. “Disaster Management Plan of Dhaka Metro Rail Network ” by Mr. M. A. N. Siddique, Dhaka Mass Transit Company Limited 
7. “Landslide disaster in Bangladesh: early warning and protective measures” by Prof. Dr. Tahmeed Malik al Hussaini, Dept. of CE, BUET 
8. “Behaviour of railway embankment under varying train speeds” by BUET-JIDPUS Team 
(Shamontee Aziz, Joya Rani, Mallick, Iram Lamiya Hoque, Dr. AFM Saiful Amin) 
9. “Behaviour of Building Frames under Blast Loading with Special Reference to Theaters and Halls” by Maj Gen F M Zahid Hossain Bangladesh Army