On Tuesday 14 September, the Climate Resilient Local Infrastructure Center (CReLIC) established by the Department of Local Government Engineering (LGED) a memorandum of Understanding signed among Housing and Building Research Institute (HBRI), the Center for Climate Change and Environmental Research (C3ER), the Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies (BCAS), and the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC). Through the signing of this MoU, CReLIC and the four organizations agreed to exchange data, knowledge, and experience on climate change and develop and implement joint research. As a result, all parties will work together to create climate-resilient infrastructure and implement the country’s overall delta plan.

Meanwhile, Professor Emeritus of the Center for Climate Change and Environmental Research and water resources and climate change expert Dr. Ainun Nishat called for LGED to move beyond the traditional design to include climate change return periods of thirty, fifty, and one hundred years, and provided valuable guidance on what the role of CReLIC could be in this endeavor.

While in concluding remarks, Mr. Md. Abdur Rashid, Chief Engineer, Department of Local Government Engineering (LGED) highlighted the importance of these MoUs on the progress of CReLIC and called upon officials at all levels to play a sincere role in its effective implementation.

MoU signing ceremony held at the Department of Local Government Engineering, Agargaon was signed by Director (Additional Chief Engineer) CReLIC Mr. AKM Lutfar Rahman, Housing and Building Research Institute (HBRI) Mr. Md. Akter Hossain Sarkar, Principal Research Officer, from Center for Climate Change and Environmental Research (C3ER) Emeritus Professor Dr. Ainun Nishat, Bangladesh Center for Advanced Studies (BCAS) Executive Director  Atiq Rahman, and Mr. Hans Guttman, Executive Director of the Asian Disaster Preparedness Center (ADPC). Also present at the signing ceremony were Mr. Md. Jasim Uddin, Project Director, Climate Resilient Infrastructure Mainstreaming Project (CRIM), Mr. Md. Ashraful Alam, Director General (DG), HBRI, Mr. Md. AbdurRouf, Additional Project Head, ADPC, Country Project Lead, lastly, the additional chief engineer and superintendent engineer of LGED.

Also present on occasion were Mr. Md. Shafiqul Islam, Executive Engineer CReLIC on behalf of LGED CReLIC, Team Leader of IDC-CReLIC Mr. Johannes Albert Maria Van Oman, International Communication Specialist Dr. Daan Boom, Deputy Team Leader of IDC-CReLIC Mr. Golam Kibria, among others. Mr. Mahmood Reaz Management Specialist conducted the program.