Nature and social systems are a complex study. There are numerous examples when the risks and uncertainties arise in a development planning. Risk assessment analysis provides a formal mechanism to deal with uncertainty and risk. "There are numerous developments that ignore the risk assessment, emphasizing more on material and economic development aspects. However, such development unwittingly threatens natural resources and contains great risks and dangers in the future," said Prof. Jes Sammut, disaster risk management expert of the University of New South Wales, Australia. The statement was conveyed in a public lecture at the Faculty of Geography UGM, Wednesday (12/5).
According to Sammut, risk management in the decision making activities is related to environment management and development. In addition, it is also related with the assessment to identify risks that may occur in the future. In the public lecture held for two days, Sammut also provided concrete explanations to differentiate hazards and risk and explained on the importance of perform risk analysis in every development activity. The first day public lectures theme is Risk Assessment Management with a Focus on Ecological Risk Assessment and on the second day the theme is Applying the Precautionary Principal and Ecologically Sustainable Development to Environmental Management. Besides giving lectures, Sammut also provided opportunities for students to do thesis, dissertation and international journals writing consultation.
Dyah Fitria Dewi, Foreign Cooperation Bureau staff at Faculty of Geography, said the public lecture is a form of internationalization program conducted by the Faculty of Geography UGM in cooperation with the University of New South Wales (UNSW), Australia, which has been taking place since 2007. This cooperation is part of World Class Research University program implemented by the Faculty of Geography. The public lecture was attended by 30 students of masters and doctoral degrees in the Faculty of Geography," she said.