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Nov
16
15:00 to 16:30
The Centre for East Asian Studies (CEAS) at the University of Turku warmly invites you to the following online event with Dr Hiromi Akiyama (Harvard Kennedy School, USA): “Network of nonprofit activities in community recovery after the disaster in Tohoku, Japan”.
About the lecture: This lecture presents case studies of activities initiated by various local nonprofit organizations (NPOs) in the communities recovering from the impacts of the Tohoku disasters of March 11, 2011. Many NPOs were established in the aftermath of the disaster, some in the response phase and evolving their roles over time into the post-disaster recovery phase. Certain needs of local residents and community recovery could not be met by the government, giving space to these NPOs to engage in recovery efforts, through various ways to achieve their goals and in spite of challenges in getting through what they wanted. A variation exists in the ease in which these organizations achieved their goals. Besides the constraints of resources and management capacity, the examination points to the importance of networks – or social capital – of NPO organizers, both among themselves and between public officials and other stakeholders, in getting the information and resources needed to succeed and continue NPO activities, especially among new NPOs. The presentation concludes with a comparison with nonprofit and community engagement after major earthquakes in Sichuan, China.
About Hiromi Akiyama: Hiromi Akiyama is Fellow at Program on Crisis Leadership at the Harvard Kennedy School and a consultant at the World Bank in the field of disaster risk management. She studies comparative disaster management and post-disaster recovery, focusing on how the relationship between civil society and governments play out in the process of community recovery after major disasters across countries. Akiyama has conducted extensive research on Japan’s disaster response and recovery after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and Tsunami, and currently conducts research on disaster risk management and resilience practices in the public transportation sector. She holds a Ph.D in political science from George Mason University. She has previously taught at George Mason University, American University, and Northeastern University.
Please write to [email protected] if you would like to join the event. Zoom invitations will be send out to the registered participants. We hope to see you there!