Last week I was in China at the First International Symposium on New Techniques for Geohazards Research and Management in Gansu Province, China. This conference combined a series of talks about geohazards (particularly focusing on slope instabilities and debris flows) and hazard management strategies with a series of field visits around the Gansu Province in China. One of these visits includes to Zhouqu, where a significant landslide in 2010 killed more than a thousand people.
Whilst mainly presenting information about my PhD research, I also took the opportunity to share some of the principles and work of GfGD. Any management of geohazards must take a holistic approach, understanding the importance of both engineered solutions, and also reducing community vulnerability. GfGD is working to champion a greater understanding and practice of the latter within the geoscience community. Next week we will post a report of the conference, together with a number of photos and case studies.
