Welcome!

Thank you for your interest in the network of Young Professionals for Disaster Risk Reduction (YPDR). The idea for this network has come out of discussions at the 2006 International Disaster Reduction Conference in Davos, Switzerland. Many of you have already spoken with me about this network – others may not have heard of it yet. Please feel free to contact us with any questions or interest you have in moving YPDR forward.

The goal of YPDR is to establish an international network between young professionals and relevant organizations whose mission is to strengthen disaster management initiatives.

After sending out an initial email on YPDR, we have generated interest in this group from over 30 countries, and want to ensure that we can effectively use this network to strengthen all of our work. The feedback we have received to date shows that this network could be an excellent resource for bridging the gap between organizations (academic, humanitarian and otherwise) and young professionals, so we are keen to start dialogues between these two groups.

Please watch this space for updates on YPDR, and use the links provided to explore networks and opportunities already available.

This website will be the temporary home for YPDR -- we will use it to post links to relevant organizations, any job postings which come our way, and keep you up-to-date on how YPDR is progressing!

We are hoping to soon have a site available where we are able to host online discussions where we can all share information on our research, work, new projects, current international events, conferences and meetings, lessons learned and publications.

To contact us for more information about our network, or to join our mailing list, please send an email to: ypdrdavos@gmail.com

Please feel free to pass on this address to anyone who is interested in this network, and if you feel that you are part of an organization or listserve that should be mentioned on our site, email us to have a link added.

Thank you for your interest and your support!

Erin Michelle Smith
PhD Candidate, King's College London

A Few Interesting links:

The University of Colorado has established a ‘Disaster Grads’ listserv that some of you might want to use. The link to this service is available here:
http://www.colorado.edu/hazards/resources/disaster-grads.html

ProVention Consortium offers small grants for researchers from developing countries. Details of these grants is available here:
http://www.proventionconsortium.org/?pageid=32&projectid=5

The Emergency & Disaster Management Network, which has a forum for the sharing of knowledge, ideas and information across these disciplines, is available at:
http://www.emergencynetwork.co.uk/