The Institution of Structural Engineers The Institution of Structural Engineers
Back to Previous

UK Shelter Forum - 12 May 2023

The Institution of Structural Engineers provided the venue for another excellent UK Shelter Forum on 12 May 2023, focused around the theme of Recovery.

The Shelter Forum is a community of practicioners to share knowledge regarding humanitarian shelter and settlement and holds conferences twice a year.

Lots of great presentations and discussions ranging from the use of digital tools in post-disaster data collection, provision of guidance, and repair of damaged buildings in Ukraine, Turkey and Syria.

IStructE Humanitarian and International Development Panel members Tom Newby and Seb Kaminski presented on the importance of structural performance standards in the shelter sector.

Recordings will be available on the shelter forum website shortly.

 

Image of a group of people from UK Shelter forum visiting IStructE HQ and standing on the stairwell.

Image of the UK Shelter Forum visiting IStructE HQ.
Image of a group of people from UK Shelter forum visiting IStructE HQ and standing on the stairwell.

Tags

Blog Disaster mitigation, management & recovery Humanitarian & International Development IStructE London HQ Humanitarian & International Development Panel

Related Resources & Events

Course
Firefighters saving a fire.

Structural fire engineering - October 2027

Structural fire engineering - October 2027
This course is designed to provide structural engineers with a greater understanding of fire safety, key legislation, and the principles of risk analysis in order to ensure that adequate structural performance in fire is achieved.
Date – 13 October 2027
Location – 47-58 Bastwick St, London, EC1V 3PS
Price – £330 - £485 + VAT
Course
front of building collapsed

Structural robustness and disproportionate collapse - May 2027

Structural robustness and disproportionate collapse - May 2027
This course equips practising engineers to undertake the full structural design of a building, including designing a robust building to avoid disproportionate collapse.
Date – 5 May 2027
Location – 47-58 Bastwick St, London, EC1V 3PS
Price – £315 - £465 + VAT
Regional
Wet black umbrellas in the foreground with a classic red telephone box and blurred pedestrians on a rainy city street.

Extreme weather - guided walk led by Lester Hillman

Extreme weather - guided walk led by Lester Hillman
A guided walk of London's greatest ever downpour.
Date – 17 October 2026
Location – Golders Hill Park North End Way London NW3 7HE
Price – Free
Lecture
A view of Ruhehe Primary School, Rwanda, building made of volcanic stone with children outside

Creating tomorrow’s classrooms: sustainable school design for East Africa

Creating tomorrow’s classrooms: sustainable school design for East Africa
Join speakers as they take a closer look at the School Design Guide for East Africa, exploring its key themes and the issues it addresses
Date – 6 October 2026
Location – Online
Price – Free
Report
Map showing a city street grid with buildings color-coded on a damage scale from blue (0) to red (5).

Earthquake resilience assessment via data and automated modelling, Thessaloniki

Earthquake resilience assessment via data and automated modelling, Thessaloniki
An 2021 EEFIT Research Grant report: 'Earthquake resilience assessment of urban areas based on multiple data resources and automated scalable modelling' – pilot city: Thessaloniki, Greece.
Date – 4 September 2026
Author – Dr. Konstantinos Skalomenos
Price – Free
Report
A map of the Sea of Marmara region displaying earthquake epicenters and monitoring station networks with various colored triangle markers.

EEFIT report: Marmara, Turkey earthquake April 2025

EEFIT report: Marmara, Turkey earthquake April 2025
An EEFIT preliminary assessment of ground motion, building vulnerability, societal response and Istanbul’s readiness for the anticipated substantially larger event that the seismological evidence indicates is pending on the Princes' Islands segment of the Main Marmara Fault.
Date – 13 July 2026
Author – Aktas, Y.D., Dede, S., Donmez, K., Karagoz, B., Malcioglu, F.S.
Price – Free
The Structural Engineer
Aerial view of a yellow two-story building with severe roof damage surrounded by storm debris and parked cars.

Viewpoint: Climate change: a structural engineer's perspective from the Caribbean

Viewpoint: Climate change: a structural engineer's perspective from the Caribbean
Shalini Jagnarine-Azan describes how the impact of a heating planet is already being felt by islands in the Caribbean, and discusses the challenges of trying to build back more resiliently following a disaster.
Date – 2 July 2026
Author – Shalini Jagnarine-Azan
Price – £9.95
Training
Construction of Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture

Building for impact: lessons from the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture campus

Building for impact: lessons from the Rwanda Institute for Conservation Agriculture campus
This lecture explores the delivery of an award‑winning, earthquake‑resistant project in rural Rwanda, examining context‑specific challenges of working with local materials in a seismic zone while building skills, supply chains, and lasting community impact.
Date – 21 May 2026
Author – Various
Price – Free
Blog
Aerial view of a debris field from a collapsed building, with a person standing nearby.

More than a field diary: the role of mission blogs in post-earthquake reconnaissance

More than a field diary: the role of mission blogs in post-earthquake reconnaissance
This blog, from Yasemin D. Aktas (EEFIT Management Committee Chair), discusses the importance of publishing mission journals which can provide a real-time account of the post-disaster recovery process.
Date – 21 April 2026
Author – Yasemin Didem Aktas, UCL
Price – Free