BARCELONA, Spain, Nov. 25, 2015 /PRNewswire/ -- In the past decade, about 27 million people a year around the world have lost their homes due to natural disasters. In 2015, these numbers peaked, with disasters leaving an estimated 60 million homeless. There is an urgent need for architects and other built-environment professionals to contribute effectively to disaster rebuilding. In response to this need, Australia's RMIT University is launching a new postgraduate degree - the Master of Disaster, Design and Development (MoDDD) - which will be taught both from its RMIT Europe centre in Barcelona and its Melbourne campus. Prior to the MoDDD launch in Barcelona on Monday 30 November, a symposium will be run in collaboration with UN-Habitat and UIC Barcelona titled "Designing for a Fragile Planet". Developed in partnership with the International Federation of the Red Cross (IFRC) and UN-Habitat, MoDDD will explore how design can be used as a strategic tool to help resolve complex global challenges including poverty, natural disasters and climate change. Associate Professor Esther Charlesworth, Director of the Humanitarian Architecture Research Bureau (HARB) at RMIT, said demand was growing for architects, engineers and other design professionals to contribute to planning and rebuilding following disasters. "While there is an immediate need for emergency shelter and infrastructure solutions after a disaster, the longer game is to provide broad strategic support for the rebuilding of devastated cities and landscapes," Charlesworth said. Dan Lewis, Chief of the Urban Risk Reduction Unit for UN-Habitat, is a senior contributor to the development of the degree and keynote speaker at the official launch in Barcelona on 30 November. "The Master of Disaster Design and Development starts from the premise that unless you build community and social infrastructure around post-disaster housing, it's nearly always doomed to failure," Lewis said. Keynote speakers at the "Designing for a Fragile Planet" symposium will include design professionals who have led recent reconstruction programs from Haiti to Nepal including, Eric Cesal (Architecture for Humanity) and Brett Moore (World Vision and Harvard University). The MoDDD will be launched at RMIT Europe (Carrer de Minerva 2, 08006 Barcelona, Spain), 6pm Monday, 30 November. In addition to Esther Charlesworth and Dan Lewis, speakers will include Graham Saunders, Head, Shelter and Settlements, International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies.
