The Faculty of Arts at Ain Shams University held a symposium entitled "Crisis and Disaster Management Culture" under the auspices of Prof. Mohamed Diaa Zain El-Abedeen, President of the University, Prof. Ghada Farouk, Vice President of the University for Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs, and Prof. Hanan Kamel, Dean of the Faculty.

The symposium aims to enhance the culture of crisis and disaster management within the university community, by introducing participants to the causes of crises and how to deal with them according to scientific and sound foundations, under the supervision of Prof. Hanan Salem, Vice Dean of the Faculty for Community Service Affairs, and coordination of Dr. Amr Mahmoud, Director of the Crisis and Disaster Unit.

Prof. Hanan Kamel, Dean of the Faculty, stressed the importance of raising awareness of the risks of crises and disasters, praising the efforts of the Crisis and Disaster Unit at the Faculty in enhancing the cultural aspect of crisis management within the Faculty, thanking the Director of the Unit for holding this symposium, which is the first at the level of the Unit.

For her part, Prof. Hanan Salem, Vice Dean for Community Service and Environmental Development Affairs, pointed out the university community’s need for such seminars that instill a culture of confronting crises and managing them with scientific plans, with a focus on the human aspect of employees and students.

Prof. Fathi Al-Sharqawi, Professor of Political Psychology, addressed the absence of realistic plans and tools necessary to confront crises at the individual and institutional levels, stressing the importance of focusing on the human aspect and addressing psychological crises. He also called for the establishment of monitoring and sensing devices, conducting surveys, providing relief tools, and promoting a culture of crisis management.

Prof. Ahmed El-Feki, Professor of Geography, discussed crises from a hierarchical perspective, starting with small problems that escalate into crises and disasters.

He pointed out the mistake of focusing in the Arab world on natural problems rather than human ones, compared to developed countries that paid more attention to the human dimension, and concluded by calling for the adoption of temporal and spatial plans for crisis management.

The symposium was moderated by Prof. Shadia Qanawi, Professor of Sociology and former Egyptian Ambassador to UNESCO, who stressed the importance of addressing crises from their psychological, social and environmental dimensions.

She concluded by talking about the challenges facing third world countries, such as reliance on imported solutions, lack of local knowledge, weak dialogue and participation in decision-making, in addition to the media that sometimes ignores recognizing crises, which hinders their effective confrontation.

The event stressed the need to recognize crises early, and adopt transparency and credibility in finding realistic solutions to prevent them from turning into disasters. It witnessed a large turnout of students and faculty staff interested in the field of dealing with crises and disasters.