The National Emergency Management Organisation(NEMO), in collaboration with the Strengthening Resilience in Volcanic Areas (STREVA), Project of the
University of East Anglia (UK), and the Seismic Research Centre (SRC), University of the West Indies, will conduct a workshop on ‘The Impact of Volcanic Ash on the Environment and Infrastructure’ on Tuesday 10th March.
The objectives of this workshop are:
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To share the current approaches and models in understanding how volcanic ash is dispersed and how it impacts on the environment and infrastructure.
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To use impact scenarios of a future eruption from the La Soufriere Volcano to assist decision makers in the planning for volcanic eruptions.
Local participants from the public and private sectors are expected to attend this workshop, along with a number of volcanologists, Environmental chemists, Geologists, Meteorologists and Ash Risk Analysts, representing different universities in the United Kingdom and Belgium. Representatives from regional organisations such as the Caribbean Disaster and Emergency Management Organisation (CDEMA), the Caribbean Agricultural Research Development Institute (CARDI), the East Caribbean Aviation Authority (ECAA), the Seismic Research Centre (SRC), University of the West Indies and the Disaster Risk Reduction Centre (DRRC), University of the West Indies, Jamaica, will also attend the workshop.
The workshop on ‘The Impact of Volcanic Ash on the Environment and Infrastructure’, will take place at the Paradise Beach Hotel Conference Room at Villa from 9:00 a.m.
STREVA is an innovative interdisciplinary project that aims to work collaboratively across different disciplines to develop and apply a risk assessment framework to generate plans that will reduce the negative consequences of volcanic activity on people and assets. Led by the University of East Anglia (UK), the STREVA project brings together diverse researchers from universities and research institutes from within the UK and from those areas affected directly by volcanic activity.
The STREVA team has been collaborating with the Seismic Research Centre, University of the West Indies and NEMO since 2014, to explore the awareness and importance of volcanic risk from the perspective of decision-makers, government officials, emergency responders, monitoring agencies and the general public of St. Vincent and the Grenadines.
As a result of this initiative a number of studies were conducted and four educational videos were produced. The findings of these studies will be presented at this workshop.
