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As you may know, on February 27th Chile was hard hit by an earthquake and a subsequent tsunami which particularly affected the Bio Bio Region. The University of Concepcion, though it suffered considerable losses, has not left aside its foundational role to the Region of permanently contributing to its economic development. From the first hour, our professionals and researchers have been working with regional and local authorities putting their experience at the disposal of the local community. Thereby the University is proud to say that our faculties and students are actively participating in providing short and medium term solutions to those affected more dramatically by the earthquake. Likewise, our researchers, in collaboration with international experts, are on the field looking for data that enable them to carry out a throrough assesment and description of the phenomenon in order to anticipate the future occurence of a similar event.
In the aftermath of the earthquake and once the emergency was addressed in most of the local districts, the University decided to set up a long ter effort by putting together a new program to contribute with regional authorities to reconstruct our Region by formulating well-planned proposals in various areas, thereby transforming this tragedy into a growth and development opportunity to improve the Bio Bio Region’s inhabitants living conditions and well-being.
Thus, numerous faculties have gathered into several working groups such as : 1) Risk and Natural Disasters Alert Systems; 2) Urban Planning and Coastal Border; 3) Transport and Connectivity; 4) Public Health and Safety; 5) Economic Impact and Employment; 6) Territorial Management and Information; 7) Agriculture, Food, and Rural Development; 8) Environmental Impact and Recovery; 9) Civil Society and Reconstruction; and 10) Building and Bridge Construction, Each group is working on a multidisciplinary reconstruction plan that may be used as a short, medium, and long term development tool by our regional and local authorities.
An important milestone of such work will be the Seminar: “Region Reconstruction, Opportunities and Challenges”.
International Researchers interested in joining any Working Group may either contact group leaders or Jaime Baeza at jbaeza@udec.cl
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