Kuala Lumpur, 6 March – The 2019 ProSPER.Net Young Researchers’ School (YRS) program with the theme ‘Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA)’ was held at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. This program is one of the programs under the United Nation (UN) through ProSPER.Net (Promotion of Sustainability in Postgraduate Education and Reseach Network) in collaboration with the United Nation University Institute for the Advanced Study of Sustainability (UNU-IAS). The program aims to provide a platform for young researchers to have a better understanding on issues and problems in disaster management. This is in-line with the United Nation 2030 agenda and Sustainable Developement Goals (SDGs) which emphasize the ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR).

A total of 23 participants were shortlisted and went through a strict selection process to participate in  the summer school program. Participants involved came from different backgrounds and universities around the Asia Pacific region. Mohamad Fazli Sardi from Razak Faculty of Technology and Information, Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) Kuala Lumpur and Faten Ermala Che Othman from the Faculty of Chemical Engineering, UTM Johor were among the successful participants who represent Malaysia in the program which is held from 3 to March 13, 2019, at Gadjah Mada University, Yogyakarta, Indonesia. Hopefully, their participation in the program will benefit them in understanding disaster management both at international and national levels and will make the participation of Malaysian students at the Asia Pacific level more visible.