Build-your-own risk map: Hands-on training series to create interactive maps for communicating risk

use · Data · Emerging technologies · risk communication ·nature-based solutions

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Are you inspired by the use of interactive maps and data visualizations to communicate information about natural hazards, vulnerability, and risk? Want to develop skills to build similar tools yourself? Join us for a series of hands-on trainings designed to take you through the steps from data to design to finished creation. We will cover working with several sources of geospatial data, creating custom styled maps, adding interactivity to a web map with Mapbox, and an introduction to other tools for creating data dashboards (Microsoft PowerBI and Tableau). The primary objective of this training series is to equip members of the UR community with practical tools and skills for turning risk data and geospatial data into effective map-based data visualizations.

Participants will leave the trainings with the ability to create their own simple interactive web maps and/or dashboards and with greater awareness of what is possible with interactive map tools and what is required to create them. This series of hands-on trainings is intended to pair well with a) the Mapbox-led technical session on geospatial data sources and their uses and b) the proposed side event on user-centered design for risk data visualizations (which will cover more of the design and analysis aspects of creating a data visualization). We propose to structure the applied content in a series of three trainings that may be taken all together or individually in order to accommodate differences in participant interest and schedules.

Part 1 – Preparing data and base map (with prepared sample data from several sources)
Part 2 – Custom interactive visualizations with Mapbox (interactivity, scrolling storytelling template)
Part 3 – Quick visualization dashboards with Microsoft PowerBI and Tableau Participants will receive follow-up communications so they can maximize the practical application of the training content to their work. Training participants will also have opportunities to build connections with various teams that build map-based data visualizations regularly and discuss ideas and needs.

This will be a highly-engaging series of trainings. Participants will work through project tasks step-by-step on their own laptops with support from the trainers and assistants. In addition, each training will include some time for discussion and sharing of ideas for how participants would like to apply what they learn.

Organizer: Mapbox & Kontinentalist

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Responsible AI for disaster risk management

identify · AI-Machine Learning · Emerging technologies

As the Understanding Risk Community continues to explore the opportunities offered by artificial intelligence and related technologies and expand the range of applications for which they are used, we need to pay close attention to the risks that these tools create. Significant attention is currently being given by academics, journalists, and the public to questions of the ethics and bias of artificial intelligence systems across a variety of domains including facial recognition, automated weapons systems, search algorithms, and criminal justice. Despite significant potential for negative impacts of these tools in disaster risk management, our domain has not given these issues as much attention as other domains.

To help meet this need, GFDRR, Columbia University, and Deltares are proud to launch a new publication on Responsible AI for Disaster Risk Management. The publication provides concrete recommendations and, using case studies from DRM projects all over the world, illustrates both the potential and the risk of emerging uses of AI in our field. This session will continue the discussion by providing opportunity for participants to work together to evaluate risks of example projects, datasets, and algorithms.

Organizer: GFDRR

Partner Organizations: Columbia University, Deltares

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Developing New Zealand’s open source multi-hazard risk assessment tool: RiskScape 2.0

identify · risk assessment · Stakeholder collaboration

The cumulative impacts from natural hazards on our social and economic environments are unsustainable. As risk is dynamic and continues to change we require strong risk tools to provide credible loss and impact assessments both before and crucially during emergencies. It is essential these tools need to be simple and functional so they may be practically applied by a range of users. Since May 2018, GNS Science, NIWA and Catalyst IT have been developing the RiskScape 2.0 loss modelling platform. Built using open source technologies, the software’s ‘engine’ design is based on a plugin architecture that enables modellers to apply spatial and non-spatial data in an impact model workflow. These data sets include spatial layers representing natural hazard exposure, and assets at risk (e.g. buildings, people), and vulnerability functions. RiskScape 2.0’s plugin architecture supports an extensible model suite, enabling more complex modelling techniques (e.g. probabilistic models or cascading risk modelling) to be developed and supported by the system. In its current form, the engine is operable using a command line interface (CLI) on Linux and Windows systems operating with a range of common or proprietary (e.g. HDF5) spatial and text file formats. It also supports types lists and functions in python scripts or simple plain text formats, both deterministic and stochastic modelling capability and is multi-lingual for application anywhere in the world.

The RiskScape 2.0 platform, including the open source software engine, a user interface and web-based hosted environment, is expected to be launched later in 2020. This side event will provide a demonstration of RiskScape 2.0, detail the future product roadmap and proposed launch of the open source platform.

Organizer: Institute of Geological and Nuclear Science Ltd

Partner organizations: , National Institute of Water and Atmospheric Research Ltd, , Catalyst.Net Ltd

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Expert collaboration to support disaster risk financing: New models and views of risk

identify · risk assessment · risk finance

Progress towards closing the protection gap will require collaboration between experts across disciplines, organizations, and geographies to quickly develop and deploy new models. This event will provide examples of successful case studies of expert collaboration using the AIR Model Builder Platform. Workshop format driven by practical case study examples. AIR Worldwide will provide an overview of Model Builder application and benefits to model developers and end users, followed by specific examples and a hands-on demonstration.

Organizer: AIR Worldwide

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From risk thinking to resilience thinking: Launch of the STAIN tool

use · cities · Stakeholder collaboration

This event is focused on risk thinking versus resilience thinking and the use of objective data versus subjective data in adaptation and resilience design. As a workshop, Royal HaskoningDHV will showcase several participatory modelling tools, the cities for which they were used, and how objective data and subjective data play a role in the collaborative design process.

One of the tools that will be showcased is STAIN. This tool is developed for participatory resilience strategy design in cities. The focus in this tool is on subjective data and local area knowledge and uses a personal interpretation of what resilience means to a particular city as a starting point. With this approach a level of understanding is reached between the different participants around the table. This level of understanding creates more opportunities for collaboration between cities and citizens, companies or housing associations and accelerates the process from resilience strategy to a resilience plan. During the side event Royal HaskoningDHV launches the online version of STAIN and its cross-learning city platform.

City experts, strategists, climate adaptation specialists are invited to join this event, but it is open to all the UR2020 attendees. More info on https://www.royalhaskoningdhv.com/en-gb/specials/stain

Organizer: Royal HaskoningDHV

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Climate and design collaborative studio

communicatE · use · risk communication · Design, visualization and art

From conducting user research, design, and systems thinking, to creating products and platforms for risk communication—the field of Science and other disciplines often borrow from the Design discipline without actually knowing the rigor it entails. Many people talk about prioritizing user needs and user centric design, but just having ‘better workshops’ and ‘more interactive user stakeholder meetings’ doesn’t mean that the outputs are going to be better. Further, implicit bias and data privilege exists in ‘climate smart’ processes and ‘solutions’, increasing the likelihood of negative direct and indirect side effects from a future driven by both large (international/global) and small (community level) climate adaptation and mitigation projects.

Extending from a new course at NYU, the Climate & Design Collaborative Studio run by designer Clarisa Diaz and scientist Andrew Kruczkiewicz, this session intends to share with participants main themes of what climate and design could mean as an integrated process. In the course, students from various disciplines receive climate science and design training to work together in proposing communication strategies and solutions in site-specific locations.

Course outputs addressing floods in Dar es Salaam and zuds in Mongolia will be presented as examples, along with unpacking what user research, brainstorm, sketch and prototype mean. The session will then focus on a specific case study, where participants will be able to interact with one another, sharing knowledge and experiences with design methodologies for a takeaway process they can apply to their work.

Organizer: New York University

Partner organization: NYU

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Co-developing open risk models for risk financing and climate change adaptation

identify · risk assessment · risk finance

Publicly available risk intelligence is at the core of effective risk management. Oasis Loss Modelling Framework provides open source catastrophe modelling platform for the quantification of the economic impacts of disaster risk and climate change for analysing the costs and benefits of risk adaptation and risk transfer. Oasis has been co-developing new models with international and in-country experts in risk modelling, risk financing and climate change in the Philippines and Bangladesh for the past two years.

This event will share technical innovations in open risk modelling and quantifying climate change impacts, and lessons learnt in implementing public-private partnerships. The session will include the opportunity for discussion of challenges and applications in other territories and audience participation. Completing in 2020, the project will provide a template for other countries to develop similar projects and open risk models in the future.

Organizer: Oasis Loss

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Early warning for early action: Toward more behaviorally-informed early warning systemCitrine 211

communicatE · use · risk communication ·early warning

Early warning systems (EWSs) have traditionally focused on collecting and analyzing hazard data to produce warning messages that help inform stakeholders of impending disasters and when, where, and how to initiate response activities. Social constructivist understandings of risk have led to more people-centered approaches to EWS design and development. The resulting systems, though better informed, have consistently struggled to produce the preparation and early actions of exposed and vulnerable populations.

This event, based on a paper, builds on decades of psychology and social and behavioral change theory and practice to propose a social and behaviorally-informed approach to EWS design, development, and implementation that focuses on identifying proper early actions and the determinants of those behaviors in order to improve the likelihood that affected populations heed early warnings and take proper action to protect themselves and the resources they may require for recovery.

Organizer: Josh Ayers, Food for the Hungry

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Geohazard risk monitoring and mitigation approaches: Increasing resilience of the Himalayan road network

identify · Data · risk assessment · Infrastructure · earth observations · landslide

Climate change is leading to a more extreme environment and increasing the recurrence rate of natural hazards, making infrastructures subject to actions to which they had not necessarily been designed for. Risk estimation and mitigation measures deriving from climate change are creating new concepts that are being incorporated into different infrastructure departments policies, resulting in new strategies based on prevention instead of on the existing reactive approach used to address detected damages or failure processes.In the case of the road networks, landslides become of great importance due to their recurrence as well as because of its impact. Particularly significant is the case of the South Asian region occupied by Nepal, Buthan and North of India, which have the combination of a young Geology with the highest mountains on Earth. This, together with a road network designed following the old transport paths (not following the bottom of the valleys but going along the half of the hill) and with the state of development of the countries; ends on a pore road network system subject to many landslides that cause accidents, road blocks and road failures that condition the economy and way of living of the people of the region.This proposal presents four case studies undertaken in the region and funded by the World Bank or JICA, which summarizing, provide on one hand different possibilities of identifying the most vulnerable or hot spot locations, depending on the scope; and secondly, how to work towards mitigating strategies that look preventing the landslides from happening. The fact of being developing countries reinforces the need for these two aspects. Due to the lack of money available, prioritizing where to intervene is particularly critical. Additionally, there is no tradition of acting without an evidence of a problem. All interventions until now have been in reaction to a failure, so a change of mentality is required to get the most benefit of the investment.The four case studies are:1) Proactive Monitoring and Assessment of Critical Slopes Using Remote Sensing in the Transport Sector in South Asia 2) Road Slope Monitoring for Ex-ante Traffic Control of High Disaster Risk Road Slopes in Bhutan Selected by using PSIn-SAR 3) Landslide risk assessment, risk mapping and decision support system along primary highways in Nepal 4) Geohazard risk management and resilient asset management in Bhutan.The first two case studies are focused on better understanding the landslide process and obtaining higher accuracy on the landslide prediction, while the second two case studies are proposing two different approaches on how to obtain a risk ratio having in consideration a vast region subject to different properties and external actions. In these two last ones, the goal was to develop an asset management tool that could help the Department of Roads to identify the best possible investment strategy using the information currently available but where the future incorporation of information could also improve the accuracy of the system.

Organizer: INES Ingenieros Consultores S.L.

Partner organizations: World Bank, Michigan Technological University, Houghton, Michigan, JICA, ICEM, GEOCE

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Importance of modernization of hydromet systems and risk assessment

identify · use · early warning · flood · tropical cyclone-hurricane-typhoon

Nepal’s Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (DHM), the nodal agency for hydrometeorology services in the country, is modernizing the whole hydromet system in the country through the ‘Building Resilience to Climate Related Hazards’ project. The critical components of the hydro-met systems – Automated Weather Stations, Automated Hydrological Stations, Doppler Radar, Radiosonde, Lightning Detection, Hydromet Workstations, Calibration Lab, Weather TV Studio, National Framework for Climate Services (NFCS), Forecast Verification System, etc., – have been installed. DHM is receiving important weather information in real-time, which has enabled DHM to prepare accurate forecast and disseminate timely and accurate early warning messages to communities living in flood prone areas through the National Emergency Operations Center (NEOC). Being installed throughout the country through which the data are generated, processed, analyzed and hydromet services is being delivered. These systems are the lifeline of the hydromet services which are critical for saving lives in the country. In the build up to the July 11 – 14, 2019, the DHM and NEOC was able to send out approximately 2 million SMSs, which potentially saved thousands of lives.

Organizer: National Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Authority, Nepal

Partner Organizations: Department of Hydrology and Meteorology (Nepal) 

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