March 25, 2023

On March 25, 2023, MIT Urban Risk Lab's Saeko Nomura Baird gave a talk titled "Reducing Risk through Design and Technology" to students from the Ibaraki Prefectural Tsuchiura First High School. The main purpose of the talk was to emphasize the crucial role of design in enhancing safety and resilience, especially in disaster-prone regions like Japan.

During the presentation, Nomura Baird highlighted the gap in awareness about existing disaster mitigation mechanisms, such as public parks serving as evacuation spaces, despite Japan's proactive stance on disaster preparedness. The talk underscored the importance of integrating disaster preparedness seamlessly into daily landscapes and systems through innovative design solutions. By leveraging ethnographic insights into local culture and practices, Nomura Baird's approach focuses on making disaster preparedness an inherent part of everyday life, ultimately ensuring greater resilience in times of crisis.

The talk aligns with the broader work of the Urban Risk Lab, emphasizing practical solutions rooted in research and design that address the challenges of disaster mitigation and preparedness. By bridging the gap between everyday life and disaster situations, Nomura Baird's proposed methodology contributes to ongoing efforts to build resilient communities worldwide.