The HUC Thematic Working Group on Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience (HUC TWG on DRR and Resilience) was established at the HUC Annual Meeting in Chengdu, China, in November 2017. Under the leadership of the Institute for Disaster Management and Reconstruction (IDMR, Sichuan University), the first and second meetings of the TWG took place in Chengdu and Nepal during 10–14 May and 13 December 2018, respectively.

The IDMR is hosting the third meeting of the HUC TWG on DRR and Resilience in Chengdu on 30 June–4 July 2019. The event will be hosted as a part of the IDMR-organized international workshop on “Innovative models for multinational collaboration on disaster resilience” at Sichuan University.

In addition to the TWG meeting, the workshop will include several other activities, including the following:

• A focused session on the Koshi Basin Initiative, particularly on the formation of its Koshi Basin DRR Knowledge Hub and the activities of its transboundary working group on global lake outburst floods
• An introduction to other newly launched multinational DRR initiatives: Participants will be introduced to the “Alliance of Alliances on Water and Disasters”, an initiative launched through the UN High Level Panel on Water and Disasters (HELP), and to the newly created Alliance of National Science Organizations on Disaster Risk Reduction in the Belt and Road regions.
• A focused discussion on the roles of the youth and youth organizations in DRR: Participants will be introduced to the recent activities of U-INSPIRE in creating a network of national networks of students and young professionals in DRR.

Objectives

The primary goals of the international workshop, as well as the meeting of the HUC TWG on DRR and Resilience, are as follows:

1. Emerge with a more nuanced understanding of the pragmatics of multinational alliances
2. Explore possible effective linkages among the various efforts underway
3. Develop more concrete and specific plans of action, particularly for the HUC TWG on DRR and Resilience