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ICG appointed to World Centre of Excellence

Date: 11/21/2008

ICG (International Centre for Geohazards) was appointed to World Centre of Excellence on Landslide Risk Reduction, together with several other institutions at The First World Landslide Forum in Tokyo 18-21 November.


Representatives from the organizations appointed to World Centre of Excellence. ICG's Farrokh Nadim is No 4 from the right.

ICG is one of many participants in International Consortium on Landslides (ICL), which was created at the Kyoto Symposium in January 2002. NGI's Deputy Managing Dir. Oddvar Kjekstad is one of four vice presidents in ICL. The main themes for The First World Landslide Forum was:

a) Promotion of research and exchange of experience through open Forums, Symposia and Thematic Sessions

b) Advances and achievements of International Programme on Landslides

  • Technology Development (Monitoring and Early Warning, Hazard Mapping, Vulnerability and Risk Assessment)
  • Targeted Landslides (Catastrophic Landslides, Landslides Threatening Heritage Sites)
  • Capacity Building (Enhancing Human and Institutional Capacities, Collating and Disseminating Information/Knowledge)
  • Mitigation, Preparedness and Recovery

c) Designation of World Centres of Excellence on Landslide Risk Reduction

  • The Global Promotion Committee (GPC) of the International Programme on Landslides (IPL) identified and promoted World Centres of Excellence (WCoEs)

At The First World Landslide Forum ICG/NGI was represented by Suzanne Lacasse, Managing Dir. NGI, Oddvar Kjekstad, Deputy Managing Dir. NGI, Farrokh Nadim, Director ICG  and Bjørn Kalsnes, Deputy Director ICG. Lacasse og Nadim both presented invited plenum lecture reports on the first day. Nadim also chaired and presented a paper on one of the parallel sessions, "Submarine slides and their consequences". Kjekstad was chairman for one of the panel sessions, and Kalsnes held one of the main lectures of the conference: "Keynote lecture - Effects of global change on landslide risk", followed by a panel discussion on the final day.