• A Charles Sturt researcher is one of 15 individuals chosen to form the Info-Pacific Cooperation Network
• The Network will research disaster resilience methods and responses by visiting previously impacted nations, such as Japan, Fiji and Samoa
• Researchers will meet with national, state and local government representatives, as well as emergency responders, the media and survivors of disasters in each location

Charles Sturt University is helping shape the way the world responds to natural disasters as part of the new Indo-Pacific Cooperation Network established this year.

The Australian Institute of International Affairs in partnership with the Japan Foundation established the Indo-Pacific Cooperation Network, a team of 15 early-career professionals selected to conduct research on disaster resilience across the Indo-Pacific region.

Charles Sturt University Postdoctoral Research Fellow in Contemporary Threats to Australian Society (CTAS) Domestic Security in the Australian Graduate School of Policing and Security Dr Kiriloi Ingram is one of 15 people selected to be a part of the Network.

“It’s an honour to be chosen as part of the Network, which is made up of emerging leaders from Australia, the United States, Malaysia, Fiji, Cook Islands, Solomon Islands, Singapore, Japan and India,” Dr Ingram said.

The successful applicants were selected through a competitive process to develop research into disaster resilience via a series of study tours to Japan, Canberra, Fiji and Samoa over the next year.

Given the increase of natural disaster occurrences in line with growing concerns around climate change, Dr Ingram said there was an urgency for the Network’s research outcomes.

“We need to foster collaboration, dialogue and research across the Indo-Pacific to enhance community resilience to natural disasters,” she said.

“This is the impetus for establishing the Indo-Pacific Cooperation Network.”

The Network is divided into three research groups with individual focus areas, working towards an overarching goal of building partnerships and collaboration between practitioners, academics, communities, and multisector stakeholders in the Indo-Pacific region.

“My research team is focusing on analysing how and why gender and other intersectional identity markers shape experiences of disaster in Australia and the Pacific, and how disaster management strategies can be tailored towards navigating these various insecurities,” Dr Ingram said.

The first of the Network’s three planned study tours took place in Japan in September, where Dr Ingram said they visited several locations with first-hand experience in disaster recovery.

"Our first locations was the Tohoku coast north of Sendai where we spoke with officials in Minamisanriku about their experience and policy formation in the wake of the 2011 earthquake and tsunami disasters,” she said.

“We then visited the Disaster Reduction and Human Renovation Institute in Kobe to talk to local experts and visit the museum memorialising the 1995 Great Hanshin Awaji Earthquake.”

The team also presented their research findings to the National Disaster Resilience Congress in Yokohama, before concluding the trip in Tokyo where they met with Japanese and overseas government officials, including at the Cabinet Office and Australian Embassy.

“We also experienced a disaster drill at NHK World, the international arm of the Japan Broadcasting Corporation, which was an interesting insight into the role communications play in a disaster,” Dr Ingram said.

Dr Ingram and Dr Connie Gan, Lecturer in Planetary Health at Griffith University, will be presenting their initial research findings at the 2023 Queensland Disaster Management Research Forum facilitated by the Office of the Inspector-General of Emergency Management.

The second study tour will take place in Canberra, Australia in November, and the third in Fiji and Tonga in March 2024.

The Network will meet with national, state and local government representatives in each tour destination, as well as emergency responders, the media, communities and survivors of disasters.

ENDS