NERC PURE Associates workshop, 10^th September 2013

11am-6pm + networking dinner

St Catherine’s College, Manor Rd,  Oxford, OX1 3UJ

To facilitate applications for NERC PURE Associates funding call, NERC are holding a 1-day workshop in St Catherine’s College in Oxford, on 10^th September 2013.

The call (see, http://www.nerc.ac.uk/research/programmes/pure/events/associates-call.asp) aims “to fund scientists to work with business, policy-makers and NGOs to apply their knowledge and skills to improve assessments of natural hazard risk and enhance decision-making”, by funding projects of between three to six months’ duration that will transfer existing knowledge, models and expertise into business, policy or NGOs.

The aims of the workshop will be: 1) to help make connections between academics and user organisation and form new collaborative partnerships; 3) to facilitate applications for NERC PURE Associates call; 2) to inform future funding calls by uncovering opportunities for NERC science to be applied to stakeholder challenges and identifying what mechanisms should be used in future for funding collaborative projects.

If you would like to attend, please get in touch with Gillian Hoyle at gillian.hoyle@pure-associates.org by Tuesday, 3rd September. 

AGENDA

10.30 ARRIVALS, TEA AND COFFEE

11.00-11.20     The PURE Associates call and further plans in risk management from NERC's Innovation Team, by Dr Ruth Hughes, Business, Policy & Innovation Team, NERC

11.20-12.00  Plenary talk on Challenges for Decision-makers facing Uncertainty, by Professor Leonard Smith, LSE

12.00-13.00 2-minute presentations by academics and problem proposers, list to be confirmed

13.00-14.00 LUNCH

14.00-14.30 The Research Councils’ perspective on risk and uncertainty challenges by Professor John Rees, Hazard & Risk Science Coordinator, RCUK

14.30-15.30 Case studies of successful collaborations with user organisations

·         Paired Comparison analysis of science options for policy ranking and priority setting - some examples, by Professor Willy Aspinall, University of Bristol.

·         Developing and testing a probabilistic tsunami hazard model for Cascadia in partnership with the Oasis catastrophe risk modelling framework, by Dr Simon Day, University College London.

·         TBC

15.30-16.00 How to apply for the NERC PURE Associates call and Q&A session, by Dr Vera Hazelwood and Dr Ruth Hughes

16.00-16.30 COFFEE BREAK

16.30-17.30 Breakout sessions on the following topics:

a) For businesses, policy-makers and NGOs, what are the areas of biggest concern in understanding and reducing the risks from natural hazards? Where is there relevant knowledge in the research base that can assist, that isn’t being drawn upon currently? 

b) Considering the threat of natural hazards and climate change to interrupt society and the economy, is there enough being done to draw knowledge from the research base? What more needs to be done, or done differently, by whom? (Specifically: what is the role of the research councils?)

c)  What mechanisms are most effective at enabling the uptake of research by business, policy and NGOs who are trying to understand and reduce the risks from natural hazards? What mechanisms should NERC support?  

17.30-18.00 Panel discussion on main future challenges and priority funding areas

18.30-20.30 Networking dinner at St Catherine’s College