On March 19, 2016 the Evergreen Chapter Host Committee hosted a panel session titled, “What’s Being Done to Prepare for “the Big One?” – Disaster Management Lessons Learned by Japan and Other Nations for Preparation, Recovery and Reconstruction. With topic experts from Japan and Washington State, this panel was designed to honor the sister-state relationship that has existed between Washington State and the Hyogo Prefecture of Japan for over 50 years. It also highlighted the relationship founded in 2003 between ASPA’s Evergreen Chapter and the Hyogo Administrative Policy Studies Association (HAPSA).
Speakers included Matsuyo Makino of Kansai Gaidai University in Osaka, Shingo Kouchi of the International Recovery Platform in Kobe, Paul Bodin of the University of Washington, and Bret Daugherty of the Washington Army and Air National Guard. Presentations included information about plans for a large scale earthquake drill in the Pacific Northwest, the development of an early warning system for vulnerable western states in the U.S., the progress and challenges of community-based disaster preparedness in Japan, and strengthening the bilateral cooperation between Japan and the U.S.
Evergreen Chapter Officers, Mary Van Verst and David Broom, organized the panel session.
