This one-week workshop on "crisis and humanitarian responses in an urban context", organized by the "Centre d'enseignement et de recherche en action humanitaire" (CERAH), will take place at the University of Geneva, Geneva, Swizterland, from 28 November to 2 December, 2011. This workshop has the main objectives as follows:

• to define the urban context (urbanization processes, vulnerabilities)
• to understand the challenges of humanitarian response
• to explore the possible solutions to mitigate some aspects of urban disaters.

Specific objectives of this workshop include:

• Understand the problems of urbanization as a factor in crisis
• Analyze the complexity of the urban context
• Identify vulnerabilities and resilience in urban areas
• Understanding the causes of so-called natural disasters in urban areas
• Understand the challenges and issues of humanitarian intervention in urban
• Analyze the internal dynamics and international crisis response and identify their limitations
•  Identify the main mechanisms for crisis management in urban areas
• Representatives with various background from around 11 countries are invited to participate in this event. Dr. Carlos Villacis, GRIP coordinator, is invited to give a keynote presentation on "disaster risk risk management in an urban context and its challenges.
• For details on this one-week seminar, please refer to the attached agenda or visit CERAH website (www.cerahgeneve.ch).