Co-PREPARE

Project promoter:

DAAD (Deutscher Akademischer Austauschdienst)

UGC (University Grants Commission – India)

Duration:

07/2020 – 06/2024

Project description:

Natural hazards in the Himalayas, such as landslides, flash floods and large river floods pose an existential threat to communities, infrastructure and food supply. Co-PREPARE aims to facilitate cooperation between the University of Potsdam (UP) and the Indian Institute of Technology Roorkee (IITR) to build capacity to engage in natural hazard research by sharing expertise and creating new knowledge. We cooperate with dedicated non-university research institutions such as the Potsdam Institute for Climate Impact Research, the German Research Centre for Geosciences, the National Institute of Hydrology (India), the Central Building Research Institute (India) and the Wadia Institute for Himalayan Geology (India).

With this strategic partnership, we aim to strengthen international research networks and enable the transformative learning of students.

We co-raise cohorts of students supported by exchange schemes to address serious challenges in the risk prone Himalaya region, while creating a basis for partnership at the institutional level.

The Co-PREPARE project consists of three interrelated Work Packages (WPs).

WP-1 focuses on institutional internationalization by exchanging international relations personnel, students and senior researchers. In WP-2, the research framework of Co-PREPARE, we study (i) extreme rainfall, river floods, and flash floods, (ii) fluvial geomorphology and compound events, and (iii) impact of flash floods and landslides on the exposed population. WP-3, targets to generate actionable knowledge on the research topics of Co-PREPARE.

Project Partners:

• Indian Institute of Technology, Roorkee
• Potsdam Institut für Klimafolgenforschung
• Deutsches GeoForschungsZentrum GFZ
• National Institute of Hydrology (Indien)
• Central Building Research Institute (Indien)
• Wadia Institute for Himalayan Geology (Indien)