Picture-1 Keynote speech
by Koji Kamee, Director-General
of Sabo Department

The 6^th Japan-Italy Technical Conference on Sediment-related Disaster Prevention was held in the Republic of Italy from May 23 to May 26, 2008.

Concerning sediment-related measures and researches in both countries, information and opinions were exchanged at the headquarters of the National Research Council (CNR) of Italy located in Rome City. The conference started with the keynote speeches by Koji Kamee, Director-General of Sabo Department of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure, Transport and Tourism (MLIT), Japan, and Giuseppe Cavarretta, Director-General of Earth and Environment Department of CNR (Picture-1).

Eight presentations focusing on sediment-related measures and researches were presented in the following four sessions reflecting recent administrative trends: (1) Climate change due to global warming, with a particular focus on the prevention of sediment-related disasters due to increased rainfall (2) Measures against flashfloods (3) Measures against landslides and slope failures triggered by earthquakes (4) Risk Management.

Through discussions at the conference and a visit to landslide prevention structures protecting the Italian culture, both countries shared understanding on the timely themes such as responses to climate change.

<Program>

1)

Keynote speeches
Koji Kamee (Director-General of Sabo Department, MLIT)
Giuseppe Cavarretta (Director-General of Earth and Environment Department, CNR)

2)

Climate Change
Yasuyuki Sato (Deputy Director of Sabo Planning Division, Sabo Department, MLIT)
Silvia Peruccacci (CNR-Perugia Branch)

3)

Flash floods
Takao Yamakoshi (Senior Researcher of Volcano and Debris Flow Team, Erosion and Sediment Control Research Group, Public Works Research Institute)
Lorenzo Marchi (CNR - Padova Branch)

4)

Earthquakes and Landslides
Kazunori Fujisawa (Team Leader of Landslide Team, Erosion and Sediment Control Research Group, Public Works Research Institute)
Janusz Wasowski (CNR-Bari Branch)

5)

Risk Management
Hideaki Mizuno (Senior Researcher of Erosion and Sediment Control Division, Research Center for Disaster Risk Management, National Institute for Land and Infrastructure Management)
Paolo Giacomelli (University of Milano)