HyDEPP-SATREPS holds the 3rd Joint Coordination Committee Meeting
November 21, 2022
The HyDEPP SATREPS project held the 3rd Joint Coordination Committee (JCC) Meeting on November 16, 2022 Hybrid Setup. The University of the Philippines Los Banos Interdisciplinary Studies Center for Water (UPLB IdSCW) and the International Center for Water Hazard and Risk Management (ICHARM), as the principal research organizations of the HyDEPP-SATREPS jointly hosted the event at the Luxent Hotel in Quezon City, Philippines while others joined online from the ICHARM Room in Japan and from around the Philippines.
Partner agencies Laguna Lake Development Authority (LLDA), Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA), Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH) and Philippine Atmospheric, Geophysical and Astronomical Services Administration (PAGASA) also sent their representatives to attend either physically or online.
The presentations began with Dr. Miho Ohara (Project Leader, Japan side) and Dr. Patricia Sanchez (Project Manager, Philippine side) giving overall summary of the updates of the project. The objectives and overall goals of the project were reviewed and the leadership and membership were updated. The accomplishments were also compared with the set goals for Fiscal Year 2022. Among the notable accomplishments are the visit to Laguna and Pampanga last September 2022 and the 2nd batch of E-learning sessions last July-August, 2022.
Upcoming activities in Japan such as the HyDEPP training on November 27-December 10, 2022 as well as the International Conference on Flood Management on February 2023 were announced as well.
The program then proceeded with the updated per study area. For Group 1: Data Collection and Sharing, a joint presentation was shared by Study Leaders Dr. Masaki Yasukawa (Japan side) and Dr. Roger Luyun, Jr. (Philippine side). This consisted of the efforts on developing the data sharing tool as well as the continuous consolidation of data from the past projects of the UPLB IdSCW.
For Group 2: Flood and Drought Risk Assessment, Study Leaders Dr. Mohamed Rasmy Abdul Wahid (Japan side) and Dr. Aurelio Delos Reyes, Jr. (Philippine side) also presented a joint report. Agricultural monitoring using drones and satellites as well as modelling using RRI were discussed.
For Group 3: Resilience Assessment, Dr. Ohara and Dr. Sanchez, who are also the study leaders from the Japan and Philippine sides respectively updated on the mobilization efforts to visit the target sites and validate the models developed. Activities such as finalization of survey questionnaires as well as determination of survey sites were also among the highlights.
Finally for Group 4: Sustainable Local Economic Development, Philippine side study leaders Dr. Maria Angeles Catelo and Dr. Agnes Rola began with their report on the conduct of survey around the target sites as well as their close collaboration with the local government units on strategies for adaptive governance. Dr. Tomohiro Tanaka (Study Leader, Japan side) then followed with his study on migration patterns as affected by floods and droughts using his Agent-Based Model.
The presentations were then followed by comments and inputs from the partner agencies. Dr. Toshio Koike (ICHARM Executive Director), who was also at the venue gave his insights on the reports as well. With the current updates presented, the committee is assured of being one more step closer to achieving the target outputs of the project.