Leveraging Volunteered Geographic Information to Improve Disaster Resilience

2019 ◽  
pp. 1636-1662
Author(s):  
João Porto de Albuquerque ◽  
Flávio Eduardo Aoki Horita ◽  
Livia Castro Degrossi ◽  
Roberto dos Santos Rocha ◽  
Sidgley Camargo de Andrade ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Volunteered Geographic Information ◽  
Geographic Information ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
The Face ◽  
Source Of Information

Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) has emerged as an important additional source of information for improving the resilience of cities and communities in the face of natural hazards and extreme weather events. This chapter summarizes the existing research in this area and offers an interdisciplinary perspective of the challenges to be overcome, by presenting AGORA: A Geospatial Open collaboRative Architecture for building resilience against disasters and extreme events. AGORA structures the challenges of using VGI for disaster management into three layers: acquisition, integration and application. The chapter describes the research challenges involved in each of these layers, as well as reporting on the results achieved so far and the lessons learned in the context of flood risk management in Brazil. Furthermore, the chapter concludes by setting out an interdisciplinary research agenda for leveraging VGI to improve disaster resilience.

Leveraging Volunteered Geographic Information to Improve Disaster Resilience

2017 ◽  
pp. 158-184 ◽  
Author(s):  
João Porto de Albuquerque ◽  
Flávio Eduardo Aoki Horita ◽  
Livia Castro Degrossi ◽  
Roberto dos Santos Rocha ◽  
Sidgley Camargo de Andrade ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Volunteered Geographic Information ◽  
Geographic Information ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
The Face ◽  
Source Of Information

Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) has emerged as an important additional source of information for improving the resilience of cities and communities in the face of natural hazards and extreme weather events. This chapter summarizes the existing research in this area and offers an interdisciplinary perspective of the challenges to be overcome, by presenting AGORA: A Geospatial Open collaboRative Architecture for building resilience against disasters and extreme events. AGORA structures the challenges of using VGI for disaster management into three layers: acquisition, integration and application. The chapter describes the research challenges involved in each of these layers, as well as reporting on the results achieved so far and the lessons learned in the context of flood risk management in Brazil. Furthermore, the chapter concludes by setting out an interdisciplinary research agenda for leveraging VGI to improve disaster resilience.

Leveraging Volunteered Geographic Information to Improve Disaster Resilience

2019 ◽  
pp. 1698-1723
Author(s):  
João Porto de Albuquerque ◽  
Flávio Eduardo Aoki Horita ◽  
Livia Castro Degrossi ◽  
Roberto dos Santos Rocha ◽  
Sidgley Camargo de Andrade ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Interdisciplinary Research ◽  
Research Agenda ◽  
Volunteered Geographic Information ◽  
Geographic Information ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
The Face ◽  
Source Of Information

Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI) has emerged as an important additional source of information for improving the resilience of cities and communities in the face of natural hazards and extreme weather events. This chapter summarizes the existing research in this area and offers an interdisciplinary perspective of the challenges to be overcome, by presenting AGORA: A Geospatial Open collaboRative Architecture for building resilience against disasters and extreme events. AGORA structures the challenges of using VGI for disaster management into three layers: acquisition, integration and application. The chapter describes the research challenges involved in each of these layers, as well as reporting on the results achieved so far and the lessons learned in the context of flood risk management in Brazil. Furthermore, the chapter concludes by setting out an interdisciplinary research agenda for leveraging VGI to improve disaster resilience.

A free, open-source, offline digital health system for refugee care (Preprint)

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Henry Ashworth ◽  
Senan Ebrahim ◽  
Hassaan Ebrahim ◽  
Zahra Bhaiwala ◽  
Michael Chilazi
Keyword(s):  
Health Systems ◽  
Digital Health ◽  
Healthcare Providers ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Mobile Clinic ◽  
Low Resource ◽  
Displaced Populations ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Displaced People

BACKGROUND Rise of conflict, extreme weather events, and pandemics have led to larger displaced populations worldwide. Displaced populations have unique acute and chronic health needs that need to be met by low resource health systems. Electronic Health Records (EHRs) have been shown to improve health outcomes in displaced populations but need to be adapted to meet the constraints of these health systems. OBJECTIVE To describe the development and deployment of a EHR designed to care for displaced populations in low resource settings. METHODS Using a human-centered design approach we conducted in-depth interviews and focus groups with patients, healthcare providers, and administrators in Lebanon and Jordan to identify the essential EHR features. These features including modular workflows, multilingual interfaces, and offline-first capabilities led to the development of the Hikma Health EHR which has been deployed in Lebanon and Nicaragua. RESULTS We report the successes and challenges from 12 months of Hikma Health EHR deployment in a mobile clinic providing care to Syrian Refugees in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon. Successes include the EHR’s ability to (1) increase clinical efficacy by providing detailed patient records, (2) prove adaptable to the threats of COVID-19, and (3) improve organizational planning. Lessons learned include technical fixes to methods of identifying patients through name or their medical record ID. CONCLUSIONS As the number of displaced people continues to rise globally, it is imperative that solutions are created to help maximize the healthcare they receive. Free, open-sourced and adaptable EHRs can enable organizations to better provide for displaced populations.

Surveying After a Disaster: Capturing Elements of Vulnerability, Risk and Lessons Learned from a Household Survey in the Case Study of Hurricane Irma in Sint Maarten

2019 ◽  
Vol 06 (02) ◽  
pp. 1950001 ◽  
Author(s):  
Neiler Medina ◽  
Yared Abayneh Abebe ◽  
Arlex Sanchez ◽  
Zoran Vojinovic ◽  
Igor Nikolic
Keyword(s):  
Insurance Coverage ◽  
Household Survey ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
High Tendency ◽  
Household Level ◽  
Face To Face ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Hurricane Irma

On September 5 2017, a Category 5 Hurricane, named Irma, struck the Caribbean island of Sint Maarten causing destruction and loss of life across the territory. This paper presents a household survey and the main findings related to vulnerability and risk to extreme weather events in the aftermath of Hurricane Irma. The post-disaster context posed challenges in relation to data collection, determination of sample size and timing of the fieldwork. The survey was conducted using a combination of face-to-face interviews and web-administered questionnaires. This method proved useful in achieving a better coverage of the study area as well as obtaining a greater overall response rate. With regards to the timing of the survey, it was found that a period of six months between Hurricane Irma’s landfall and the field data campaign was adequate in terms of availability of resources and emotional distress of respondents. Data collected in the survey was categorized into general household information, hurricane preparedness and reaction, and risk perception/awareness. Survey findings show that the factors that increased vulnerability and risk on the island include a high tenancy rate, low insurance coverage, lack of house maintenance, disregard to building regulations (particularly on leased lands), low evacuation rate, not receiving a clear warning, and lack of preparation. The factors that reduce vulnerability include high hurricane awareness at a household level and high tendency of rebuilding houses with comparable quality to houses that can sustain hurricanes. Finally, recommendations are provided that could potentially reduce communities’ vulnerability and risk to hurricanes, and lessons learned in conducting household surveys after disasters.

Planning to Build Resilience into Transportation Assets: Lessons Learned

2018 ◽  
Vol 2672 (3) ◽  
pp. 118-129 ◽  
Author(s):  
Beth Rodehorst ◽  
Brenda Dix ◽  
Brad Hurley ◽  
Jake Keller ◽  
Robert Hyman ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Transportation Engineering ◽  
Adaptation Measures ◽  
Climate Conditions ◽  
Changing Climate ◽  
Transportation Assets ◽  
The Face ◽  
State And Local ◽  
Transportation Agencies

Although many state and local transportation agencies recognize the need to make transportation assets more resilient in the face of a changing climate, there have been few methods and best practices they can draw on to determine which assets may be compromised under future conditions and how to evaluate and select adaptation measures. Federal Highway Administration’s (FHWA’s) Transportation Engineering Approaches to Climate Resiliency project sought to synthesize lessons learned and innovations from a variety of recent FHWA studies and pilots to help transportation agencies address changing climate conditions and extreme weather events at the asset level. This paper describes considerations for why, where, and how to integrate climate considerations into the project development process. It also discusses the types of climate information that should be considered, and summarizes lessons learned from FHWA’s studies and pilots—such as implementing adaptive designs, considering assets in a regional context, and exploring ecosystem-based adaptation solutions—that can be used to guide the process of developing adaptation strategies.

scholarly journals CRITICAL ANALYSIS OF THE BRAZILIAN ENVIRONMENTAL SAFETY SYSTEM

2020 ◽  
Vol 3 (7) ◽  
pp. 9-35
Author(s):  
Eduardo Frederico Cabral de Oliveira ◽  
José Augusto Ferreira da Silva ◽  
José Francisco De Oliveira Júnior
Keyword(s):  
Environmental Control ◽  
Regional Analysis ◽  
Environmental Safety ◽  
Safety System ◽  
Lessons Learned ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Nature Protection ◽  
Descriptive Research ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
The Military

Conflicts stemming from the dispute over natural resources have become increasingly more frequent. Extreme weather events have intensified and have equally become more frequent owing to global warming. Although the consequences of such phenomena have repercussions on public safety, the processes of analysis incorporating the environmental dimension in this context have not been fully understood. This paper assessed how systems of environmental protection interconnect with those of crime prevention, forming the environmental safety system. It is an exploratory-descriptive research carried out through questionnaires evaluated by State environmental control agencies, exploring eight major domains: their origins; their staff, distribution and organization; logistics and operational structures; the use of geotechnologies; integration; operational results; regional analysis; and the general analysis of military environmental police. The last section, in conclusion, reviews the main lessons learned and proposes future lines of research that can be developed based on this topic. It highlights that the military environmental police should be the most significant agent of nature protection in the country. It reveals the existence of weaknesses and opportunities for improvement to be implemented.

scholarly journals Advancing Seaport Resilience to Natural Hazards Due to Climate Change: Strategies to Overcome Decision Making Barriers

2021 ◽  
Vol 2 ◽  
Author(s):  
Elizabeth L. Mclean ◽  
Austin Becker
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Decision Making ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Decision Makers ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Structured Interviews ◽  
Sustainable Operations ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
The Face ◽  
Research And Education

Climate change and extreme weather events put in peril the critical coastal infrastructure that is vital to economies, livelihoods, and sustainability. However, for a variety of reasons, decision makers often do not implement potential adaptation strategies to plan and adjust to climate and extreme weather events. To respond to the question of how seaport decision makers perceive strategies to overcome the barriers to adaptation we used semi-structured interviews of 30 seaport directors/managers, environmental specialists, and safety managers from 15 medium- and high-use ports of the U.S. North Atlantic. This paper contributes four broad strategies identified by seaport decision makers as necessary to help them advance on this challenge: funding, better planning or guidance, research and education, and advocacy/lobbying. We coded these strategies parallel to our partner paper that identified seven key barriers faced by the same set of decision makers. Results can help direct resources in ways targeted to the needs of seaport decision makers. The proposed framework contributes to theories of resilience building and barriers to decision making. Being strategic about change facilitates effective adaptation, decreasing risk, and enables continuity of safe, and sustainable, operations of U.S. seaports in the face of climate and extreme weather events.

scholarly journals Income-based Inequality in Post-disaster Migration is Lower in High Resilience Areas: Evidence from U.S. Internal Migration

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ted Hsuan Yun Chen ◽  
Boyoon Lee
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Internal Migration ◽  
Local Level ◽  
The United States ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Extreme Weather Events ◽  
Disaster Resilience ◽  
Migration Patterns ◽  
Weather Events ◽  
Post Disaster

Residential relocation following extreme weather events is among the costliest individual-level measures of climate change adaptation. Consequently, they are fraught with inequalities, with disadvantaged groups most adversely impacted. As climate change continues to exacerbate extreme weather events, it is imperative that we better understand how existing socioeconomic inequalities affect climate migration and how they may be offset. In this study we use network regression models to look at how internal migration patterns in the United States vary by disaster-related property damage, household income, and local-level disaster resilience. Our results show that post-disaster migration patterns vary considerably by the income level of sending and receiving counties, which suggests that income-based inequality impacts both access to relocation for individuals and the ability to rebuild for disaster-afflicted areas. We further find evidence that these inequalities are attenuated in areas with higher disaster resilience. However, because existing resilience incentivizes in situ incremental adaptation which can be a long term drain on individual wellbeing and climate adaptation resources, they should be balanced with policies that encourage relocation where appropriate.

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