Resilient settlement: prevention and reconstruction, lessons learned from Japan and Croatia – discussion held at World EXPO OSAKA 2025 on May 26, 2025

  • Photo /slike/Opcenito/2025_06_02-image-1.jpg
  • Slika
  • Slika
  • Slika
  • Slika
  • Slika
  • Slika
Photo /slike/Opcenito/2025_06_02-image-1.jpgSlika Slika Slika Slika Slika Slika

The Croatian delegation led by State Secretary Dunja Magaš participated in the Croatian part of the official programme of World Expo OSAKA 2025.

During the Future of Community and Mobility theme week, organised by the Institute for Spatial Development of the Ministry of Physical Planning, Construction and State Assets, and supported by the Croatian pavilion, a conference called Resilient Settlement: Prevention and Reconstruction, Lessons Learned from Japan and Croatia was held.
 
In general, approximately 5.8 million visitors visited the exposition by the end of May, and the number is expected to rise to 28 million by the end of the six-month period. The number of visitors each day varies from 140 to 180.
 
State Secretary Dunja Magaš welcomed the audience and gave an introductory presentation emphasising the importance of resilience to change in the process of building a society and space: “It is evident that changes are happening, as a result of natural causes or human activity, and we are ever more exposed to their negative consequences.” Having reviewed the reconstruction process following the 2020 earthquakes, she concluded the presentation by thanking Japan, which had helped Croatia financially, and especially the ambassador of Japan in Croatia Nj.E. Mitsuhiro Wada, as well as all Japanese experts who had contributed to post-earthquake reconstruction by sharing their knowledge and experience.
 
The key lecture was given by Dr. Haruo HAYASHI, Professor Emeritus at Kyoto University and former president of the National Research Institute for Earth Science and Disaster Resilience: “Life is a series of obstacles and overcoming them makes us stronger - and resilience, which is the ability to absorb, recover and adjust to challenges, required at the individual, family, community and society level, is not supposed to lead us back, but to prepare us for the future.” His introductory lecture entailed a comprehensive overview of recent disasters in Croatia and Japan, including main outcomes and lessons learned during reconstruction and recovery.
 
The first part of the conference, dedicated to national policies for building resilience, started with a lecture given by Dr. Satoru Nishikawa, Professor at IRIDeS Tohoku University and Senior Advisor on disaster risk reduction and reconstruction within the Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA). His lecture included an overview and Japan’s experience in mitigating the consequences of earthquake disasters, applying the principle of “Build Back Better”, which was proven essential considering the fact that Japan is exposed not only to earthquakes, but also to tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, typhoons, powerful monsoon storms, floods, landslides and avalanches. He gave an overview of the improvements in the regulatory framework and technical standards in practice.
 
Sunčana Habrun, Head of Sector within the Institute for Spatial Development of MPGI, presented the development of the Physical Planning Information System, with a focus on the already developed and planned modules which help develop the physical planning and construction system and monitor the spatial situation. She emphasised the system is connected to databases under the jurisdiction of other bodies which contribute to smarter and better solutions and announced further development of the system.
 
Aljoša Aaron Špaleta, Deputy Head of Project of the Ministry of Culture and Media, presented the project of developing 60 conservational backgrounds, which should be publicly available by the end of 2026, and which are developed within the framework of the National Recovery and Resilience Plan. These conservational backgrounds represent new generation professional backgrounds which ensure digital access to conservational backgrounds for the areas under the scope of this project, with the main goals being to ensure standardisation and improvement of the methodology of cultural heritage preservation plan, integration with the physical planning system, and strengthening the professional community.
 
The second part of the conference was focused on local approach to creating resilient communities.
 
Prof. Masahito Murata from Kansai University of International Studies offered an overview of post-earthquake experiences of several local communities: the Hanshin-Awaji earthquake (Kobe), the Hyogo reconstruction plan: “Creative Reconstruction - Hyogo Phoenix Plan”, including an overview of the earthquake impact and the extent of damage, the recovery process of the affected areas, lessons learned, and highlighting the importance of transferring acquired knowledge.
 
Deputy Mayor of Dubrovnik Jelka Tepšić focused on the efforts of Dubrovnik, a city whose core is protected by UNESCO, to contribute to creating a safer city with identified main risks and an overview of key projects and investments. Her lecture was followed by a presentation delivered by Director of the Institute for the Restoration of Dubrovnik Mihaela Skurić, who presented a historical overview of the approach to reconstruction and explained the methods of seismic reconstruction of historic buildings, with a focus on activities aimed at contributing to improving resilience.
 
Dr. Ivana Katurić, Director of Urbanex d.o.o., explained the approach to post-earthquake reconstruction of Petrinja from the perspective of implementing the project funded by the Government of Japan and carried out under the cooperation programme between Japan and EBRD. The goal of the project was to analyse the post-earthquake state of Petrinja, with an emphasis on urban reconstruction and restoration of essential activities in order to help Petrinja carry out the reconstruction.
 
A short discussion followed the lectures, and the lecturers answered a series of questions. The panel was moderated by Ingrid Gojević.
 
During the EXPO visit, the delegation officially visited the pavilions of Austria, Italy, France, Portugal, the European Union, Saudi Arabia, Brazil, Chile and Bahrain.
 
It should be noted that Croatia’s pavilion Croatia - Climadiversity attracted great attention, with visitors waiting in a long queue to see it.

News | Information