Rethinking Resilience, Adaptation and Transformation in a Time of Change (PDF)

Professor Wanglin Yan graduated from Wuhan Technical University of Surveying and Mapping with a Bachelor of Engineering degree in 1982. He received his Master's degree in 1989 and his PhD in 1992 from the University of Tokyo's Department of Civil Engineering. He is a specialist in Geographic Information System and Science and contributed to the design and re-construction plan for Sichuan, China after the city was struck by a massive earthquake in 2008. His recent research interests are in assessing the resiliency of ecosystems and human society, and devising and implementing adaptation plans in developed and developing countries. Will Galloway graduated from the University of Manitoba with a Bachelor of Environmental Design in 1996 and a Master of Architecture in 2001. He received his PhD in Environmental Studies from the University of Tokyo's Graduate School of Frontier Sciences in 2008. He is a specialist in the compact city theory of urban planning and is a practicing architect. After working in the UK, Canada, and Japan he founded frontofficetokyo, a design office. He co-founded the Tokyo Chapter of Open Architecture Collaborative (previously Architecture For Humanity), a nonprofit organization focused on resilience and disaster reconstruction efforts around the world. His recent research interests include the multi-disciplinary integration of architecture, urban forms and energy production, as well as strategies for adaptation and resiliency building both before and after disasters.