1 Combining landslide research with capacity building: the experience of the United Nations University – ITC School for Disaster Geo-Information Management. By: Cees van Westen and Bart Krol UNU – ITC DGIM, Faculty for Geo-Information sciences and Earth Observation (ITC), University of Twente, Enschede, The Netherlands. E-mail: westen@itc.nl , krol@itc.nl 1. INTRODUCTION Given the increasing trend in disasters and disaster related losses, there is an urgent need to include the concepts of disaster risk management into planning, sustainable development and environmental impact assessment. One of the important requirements to carry out an effective disaster risk management is capacity building and training of disaster management experts and professionals, such as planners, engineers, architects, geographers, environmental specialists, university teachers etc. The Hyogo framework of action 2005-2015 of the UN-ISDR indicates risk assessment and education as two of the key areas for the development of action in the coming years. Disaster risk management requires the assessment of risk, which is a multi-disciplinary endeavour that requires the integration of many types of spatial information. ITC is one of the world’s leading organizations that combine research, training and capacity building in the field of geo-information science and earth observation. The International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) was founded in 1950 as the International Training Centre for Aerial Survey, with the aim to foster the international exchange of knowledge, focusing on capacity building and institutional development in developing countries and emerging economies. ITC provides international postgraduate education, research and project services in the field of geo-information science and earth observation using remote sensing and GIS. Due to government policy ITC was embedded as the sixth faculty in the University of Twente (UT) in January 2010. The core activities are executed by about 245 staff, organized in six scientific departments covering ITC’s knowledge field: Earth Observation Science, Geo-Information Processing, Natural Resources, Earth Systems Analysis, Urban and Regional Planning and Geo-Information Management, and Water Resources. Over the years, ITC has developed a wide selection of courses in its degree, diploma and certificate programmes in geo-information science and earth observation. These courses are offered in the Netherlands, online and abroad by ITC itself or by ITC in collaboration with reputable qualified education organizations (joint courses). Our courses aim at providing in-depth study of a particular set of problems in developing countries and emerging economies. They attract young and mid-career professionals with an interest in development- related issues. More than 20,000 students from over 175 countries have completed ITC courses since 1950 (See figure 1). The majority of these participants are professionals in their respective fields, with prior academic training and (often) professional experience. 2. UNU – ITC DGIM Since 2005 ITC is an associated institution of the United Nations University (UNU). The cooperation between ITC and UNU is directed at developing and carrying out a Joint Programme on Capacity Building in Disaster Management and in Land Administration, and at disseminating knowledge of these and directly related issues. The main objective of the UNU-ITC School for Disaster Geo-Information Management is to support capacity building of organisations in developing countries through training of individuals in the