EURASIA: developing a framework to create a joint disaster management curricular to enhance European and Asian higher education capacities

Poor response capacities related to public and commercial infrastructure and facilities management have been identified as a major inhibit for successful post tsunami recovery attempts in Sri Lanka. Lack of proper knowledge related to disaster management has been identified as a main attribute of the above poor response capacities. Being more specific, none of the Sri Lankan higher education institutions possess a curricular with the ability to produce disaster management expertise within the country. Addressing this issue, European and Asian Infrastructure Advantage (EURASIA) research project has been initiated which aims at developing a mechanism to develop a joint curriculum for Built Environment education through an international collaboration between five European and Asian Built Environment educational institutions. It is anticipated that this international collaboration will enhance the capacities of both the European and Asian partner institutions in their teaching, training and research activities in the Built Environment related disciplines.