Universitas Syiah Kuala (USK), through the Disaster Mitigation Technical Management Unit (UPT) / Tsunami and Disaster Mitigation Research Center (TDMRC) cluster Disaster Risk and Management, successfully held a Workshop & Focused Group Discussion (FGD) Asia-Pacific Network Floodrisk Research Project with the theme “Advancing Local Flood Decision-making for Disaster Risk Reduction”. This workshop and FGD event is the final part of the Cooperation stage of the international research collaboration between the University of Sydney, Syiah Kuala University, and The University of The Philippines, which began in 2021 through the Asia-Pacific Network (APN) international research funding. In this case, the University of Sydney is leading this research collaboration consortium, chaired by Dr. Aaron Opdyke from the University of Sydney.
This event occurred at the USK TDMRC Auditorium, held on Thursday, April 18, 2024, from 09.00 to 16.00 WIB. This activity was attended by guests from the Philippines, namely Mr Daryl Daniel G. Bodo, Mr Alejo N. Urmeneta, and Mr David Ryan D. Hidalgo. The three people represented the Regional Government of Carigara, Leyte. Ms. Patricia Anne S. Delemndo and Ms. April Dawn F. Tegelan were also present, both researchers from the Resilience Institute of the University of the Philippines. In addition, the event was attended by various groups of professors, colleagues, fellow lecturers, researchers, academics, and students from several faculties and departments at USK. There were guests from various representatives of Aceh Singkil Regency agencies and the North Sumatra Provincial Government, namely from BPDAS Wampu Sei Ular and DLHK Prov. North Sumatra, as well as other agencies in Aceh Province.
Welcoming remarks from Prof. Syamsidik
The event was opened by the Director of TDMRC, Prof. Syamsidik, ST, M.Sc., who reviewed the importance of collaboration between research in the Singkil region and the Philippines because these regions experience almost the same natural disaster problems. “This research takes the theme of hydrometeorological disasters that are influenced by climate change so that it can cause extreme weather and increase the frequency of flood events.”
Remarks from Prof. Dr. Ir. Ella Meilianda
Furthermore, remarks from Prof. Dr. Ir. Ella Meilianda, ST, MT, who is the chief executive of the event, as well as the chief researcher at the USK TDMRC Disaster Risk Management (DRM) cluster. In her presentation, Prof. Ella said: “This research takes flood cases from two research locations that have contextual compatibility with each other, the main river of the Singkil watershed, namely Lae Soraya in critical condition and Carigara Regency in Leyte Province, Philippines. Thus, there is a need for research collaboration in efforts to deal with flooding problems in the region to produce a comparative study on the role of local government in flood management and increasing community resilience.”
Then, the Dean of the USK Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Dr. Ir. Alfiansyah Yulianur BC, delivered remarks: “Thus, it is hoped that researchers and academics will be actively involved in identifying the root causes of a flood event at the location under review, so as to provide scientific and holistic input to reduce the risk of flood disasters.”
Dean of the USK Faculty of Engineering, Prof. Dr. Ir. Alfiansyah Yulianur BC
The first speaker, Daryl Daniel G. Bodo
The first speaker, Daryl Daniel G. Bodo, delivered material on the community resilience of Carigara, Leyte, and The Philippines. “This research was conducted the same as in the Singkil area with the final hope of knowing the level of vulnerability and fragility of buildings and producing a comprehensive finding related to how to reduce the risk of flood disasters, namely through the process of quantifying the level of flood risk and including information obtained from local communities and stakeholders involved in handling flood problems in the region,” Daryl said in his presentation.
The second speaker, Era Isdhiartanto
The second speaker, Era Isdhiartanto, explained land use management upstream of Wampu Sei Ular. Era revealed that in SK 306 of 2018, related to the BPDASHL Wampu Sei Ular working area’s watershed area, there is ± 92,456 87 Ha of critical land and ± 156,429 37 Ha of very critical land. One of the efforts that BPDAS has made is vegetative activities and sedimentation retention in upstream areas (forest areas).
The thirtd speaker Dedy Alfian, ST, M.Sc, PhD Cand
Dedy Alfian, ST, M.Sc, PhD Cand. The third speaker explained the geomorphological conditions, elevation and slope of the downstream area of the Singkil watershed, which is dominated by swamps, river meanders and fairly low elevations with very gentle slopes, which greatly affects the occurrence of floods. Therefore, holistic structural and non-structural flood risk reduction efforts based on watersheds are needed, upstream to downstream.
This activity was closed with a serious game that is useful for helping stakeholders formulate the decision-making process and determine the right steps to reduce the risk of flood disasters in the context of climate change.
Serious Game
Group photo session
