Resilience or resistance? Negotiated mitigation of landslide risks in informal settlements in Medellin
Lead Research Organisation:
Heriot-Watt University
Department Name: Sch of Energy, Geosci, Infrast & Society
Abstract
Urbanisation continues to drive the growth of informal settlements on land exposed to hazards, increasing risk particularly among low-income populations, and heightening the need to improve the resilience of such communities. Informal settlements growing up steep hillsides and ravines are particularly exposed to landslides, which are a major cause of death in developing countries. In order to reduce disasters, we need to anticipate these through managing risk. Many ways of managing landslide risk are known, ranging from building physical protection barriers to raising awareness to prepare communities. However, in developing countries these measures are often difficult to implement, not only because of lack of resources but also due to complex social, economic, political and institutional reasons.
This project aims to explore the scope for, and acceptability of, landslide risk-reducing strategies for informal settlements from the community and state perspectives; to understand the barriers to landslide risk-reducing strategies; and identify politically and practically viable approaches to landslide risk-reducing strategies within a wider and more complex context of social and physical risk.
We will explore these issues in the city of Medellin, Colombia, which has received many accolades for its urban planning and design and has become a 'model' for cities elsewhere. Despite the city's successes, informal settlement growth on land at risk of landslides continues to be a major problem due to its topography. Lessons learnt about landslide risk management in this city have the potential to be easily disseminated across the developing world.
In Medellin, despite the awareness of risk raised by key tragic landslides in its recent history and the arguments used by the City Administration to relocate parts of informal settlements based on geological studies, the residents of these areas resist relocation and protest that the local government has other motives. The project will work in NE Medellin, where there is a high concentration of 'at risk' settlements, and in particular in Comuna 8, where disagreements between community and public agencies are most pronounced.
Using focus groups and semi-structured interviews in Comuna 8, we will explore the perceptions of risk and related narratives within the community and among relevant public sector agencies, and the implications of such perceptions and narratives for the adoption of risk-mitigating strategies and actions. This will help us understand the differences between these perceptions which may hinder agreement over risk-mitigation measures. We will then train community members from selected 'at risk' neighbourhoods in order to pilot and test simple landslide risk monitoring and mitigation techniques at the community and individual household level, and the participants will evaluate the experience together with other agencies. The findings from these activities will then be reflected on by workshops bringing together community, public sector and third sector across what has been designated as a 'Strategic Intervention Area' (NE Medellin) in order to explore viable ways of achieving joint decision-making around landslide risk mitigation.
The project will provide: (1) a functioning pilot community-managed landslide risk mitigation monitoring scheme, which will serve as a model to be replicated elsewhere after improvements based on the evaluation; (2) pilot individual house risk-mitigating improvements as exemplars in the (informal) community; (3) raised understanding and awareness of perceptions of risk and techniques and strategies that can mitigate landslide risk in informal settlements through collaborative action; (4) and identification of key questions around the interaction between technical, social, cultural and organisational knowledges to address in further research on landslide risk mitigation.
This project aims to explore the scope for, and acceptability of, landslide risk-reducing strategies for informal settlements from the community and state perspectives; to understand the barriers to landslide risk-reducing strategies; and identify politically and practically viable approaches to landslide risk-reducing strategies within a wider and more complex context of social and physical risk.
We will explore these issues in the city of Medellin, Colombia, which has received many accolades for its urban planning and design and has become a 'model' for cities elsewhere. Despite the city's successes, informal settlement growth on land at risk of landslides continues to be a major problem due to its topography. Lessons learnt about landslide risk management in this city have the potential to be easily disseminated across the developing world.
In Medellin, despite the awareness of risk raised by key tragic landslides in its recent history and the arguments used by the City Administration to relocate parts of informal settlements based on geological studies, the residents of these areas resist relocation and protest that the local government has other motives. The project will work in NE Medellin, where there is a high concentration of 'at risk' settlements, and in particular in Comuna 8, where disagreements between community and public agencies are most pronounced.
Using focus groups and semi-structured interviews in Comuna 8, we will explore the perceptions of risk and related narratives within the community and among relevant public sector agencies, and the implications of such perceptions and narratives for the adoption of risk-mitigating strategies and actions. This will help us understand the differences between these perceptions which may hinder agreement over risk-mitigation measures. We will then train community members from selected 'at risk' neighbourhoods in order to pilot and test simple landslide risk monitoring and mitigation techniques at the community and individual household level, and the participants will evaluate the experience together with other agencies. The findings from these activities will then be reflected on by workshops bringing together community, public sector and third sector across what has been designated as a 'Strategic Intervention Area' (NE Medellin) in order to explore viable ways of achieving joint decision-making around landslide risk mitigation.
The project will provide: (1) a functioning pilot community-managed landslide risk mitigation monitoring scheme, which will serve as a model to be replicated elsewhere after improvements based on the evaluation; (2) pilot individual house risk-mitigating improvements as exemplars in the (informal) community; (3) raised understanding and awareness of perceptions of risk and techniques and strategies that can mitigate landslide risk in informal settlements through collaborative action; (4) and identification of key questions around the interaction between technical, social, cultural and organisational knowledges to address in further research on landslide risk mitigation.
Planned Impact
The proposed project will build on the existing British Council-funded Medellin Urban Innovation (MUI) project between academics in the UK and Colombia and the relationships that this partnership has built up with other local stakeholders in Medellin. The proposal emerges from priorities identified through joint work developed by the MUI project, specifically during and following on from a multi-stakeholder forum on Housing & Habitat held in Medellin in April 2016, and from discussions held in Medellin with a range of actors (community, academia & local government) in August 2016 while co-designing this proposal.
The ultimate beneficiaries will be the estimated 44,600 informal settlement households currently at risk of landslides in the Medellin Metropolitan Area, expected to rise by at least 13,000 more by 2030 (URBAM & Harvard Design School 2012). At the local level, the findings from the research will inform decision-making and actions implemented by stakeholders involved in landslide risk monitoring and mitigation in the Aburrá Valley including: community (Convivimos, Sumapaz, the Comuna 8 Working Table for Housing and Public Services, Territorial Defence Committees, as well as other Community Risk Management Committees); public sector (Consejo Territorial de Planeacion de Medellin; Oficina de Planeamiento de Medellin; Empresas Publicas de Medellin, EMP; Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano, EDU; Instituto de Vivienda y Habitat de Medellin, ISVIMED; Área Metropolitana del Valle del Aburrá; Red para la Gestión del Riesgo en el Valle del Aburrá; Sistema Municipal para la Prevención y Atención de Desastre del Municipio de Medellin, SIMPAD; and Sistema de Alertas Tempranas del Aburrá, SIATA); and third sector (Corporación Montanoa). The project will provide inputs to the possible establishment of a Risk Management Council for the NE Urban Edge, as envisaged in the current Land Use Plan (POT) for Medellin, and to the new Metropolitan Land Use Plan under preparation. International projection will be ensured through establishing a dialogue with relevant international actors in the field including the Environment and Human Settlements Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America (CEPAL), EM-DAT, and USAID. The investigation will be of great interest to policy makers and practitioners across the Global South, where the majority of landslides worldwide have taken place.
Initially, specific case study communities in NE Medellin will benefit from training and in-situ piloting of community-managed risk monitoring and mitigation measures and, informed by the evaluation of this experience, will provide an initial core of 'trainers of trainers' to help spreading such measures across the Aburrá Valley. Such pilot demonstration projects will also foster informal copying, which has been successful in the researchers' experience in other developing countries. At the local level, the research workshops and findings will potentially contribute to implementing cross-sectoral management of one of the Strategic Intervention Areas identified in the POT. The close involvement of the project partners in local and regional government will ensure that the project has an impact on the development of policy and practice moving forward. The regional and national levels of landslide risk management will be involved through targeted invitation to a National Forum in Medellin. An understanding of different stakeholders' perceptions, the findings from the in-situ pilots and co-design methods emerging from them, and the experience of multi-stakeholder workshops for strategic decision-making will provide a basis for changing attitudes and actions across the international and multi-disciplinary partners involved in the project and beyond. The collaborative nature of this research will contribute to challenge existing ways of understanding and managing risks and allow for learning through interaction across disciplines and contexts.
The ultimate beneficiaries will be the estimated 44,600 informal settlement households currently at risk of landslides in the Medellin Metropolitan Area, expected to rise by at least 13,000 more by 2030 (URBAM & Harvard Design School 2012). At the local level, the findings from the research will inform decision-making and actions implemented by stakeholders involved in landslide risk monitoring and mitigation in the Aburrá Valley including: community (Convivimos, Sumapaz, the Comuna 8 Working Table for Housing and Public Services, Territorial Defence Committees, as well as other Community Risk Management Committees); public sector (Consejo Territorial de Planeacion de Medellin; Oficina de Planeamiento de Medellin; Empresas Publicas de Medellin, EMP; Empresa de Desarrollo Urbano, EDU; Instituto de Vivienda y Habitat de Medellin, ISVIMED; Área Metropolitana del Valle del Aburrá; Red para la Gestión del Riesgo en el Valle del Aburrá; Sistema Municipal para la Prevención y Atención de Desastre del Municipio de Medellin, SIMPAD; and Sistema de Alertas Tempranas del Aburrá, SIATA); and third sector (Corporación Montanoa). The project will provide inputs to the possible establishment of a Risk Management Council for the NE Urban Edge, as envisaged in the current Land Use Plan (POT) for Medellin, and to the new Metropolitan Land Use Plan under preparation. International projection will be ensured through establishing a dialogue with relevant international actors in the field including the Environment and Human Settlements Division of the Economic Commission for Latin America (CEPAL), EM-DAT, and USAID. The investigation will be of great interest to policy makers and practitioners across the Global South, where the majority of landslides worldwide have taken place.
Initially, specific case study communities in NE Medellin will benefit from training and in-situ piloting of community-managed risk monitoring and mitigation measures and, informed by the evaluation of this experience, will provide an initial core of 'trainers of trainers' to help spreading such measures across the Aburrá Valley. Such pilot demonstration projects will also foster informal copying, which has been successful in the researchers' experience in other developing countries. At the local level, the research workshops and findings will potentially contribute to implementing cross-sectoral management of one of the Strategic Intervention Areas identified in the POT. The close involvement of the project partners in local and regional government will ensure that the project has an impact on the development of policy and practice moving forward. The regional and national levels of landslide risk management will be involved through targeted invitation to a National Forum in Medellin. An understanding of different stakeholders' perceptions, the findings from the in-situ pilots and co-design methods emerging from them, and the experience of multi-stakeholder workshops for strategic decision-making will provide a basis for changing attitudes and actions across the international and multi-disciplinary partners involved in the project and beyond. The collaborative nature of this research will contribute to challenge existing ways of understanding and managing risks and allow for learning through interaction across disciplines and contexts.
Publications
Smith H
(2020)
Toward negotiated mitigation of landslide risks in informal settlements: reflections from a pilot experience in Medellín, Colombia
in Ecology and Society
Smith H
(2021)
Exploring appropriate socio-technical arrangements for the co-production of landslide risk management strategies in informal neighbourhoods in Colombia and Brazil
in International Journal of Urban Sustainable Development
Smith H
(2018)
A community learns to mitigate landslide risk in Colombia
Smith H
(2020)
Housing and Human Settlements in a World of Change
| Description | Perception: Perceptions of risk among informal settlement residents were explored at different times, from when they arrived in the settlement to during the project. Most interviewed residents have known some risk in their life, including floods, landslides and fires. The perception of whether they currently live in a risk area is more varied, from ignorance or lack of concern for the conditions of the site due to other concerns, to knowledge of the risk and willingness to face the consequences. This is influenced by how they see the role of the municipality in relation to risk, linked to the possibility of eviction. Public sector interviews revealed that state organisations agree on the importance of intervening on the edge of the city and on the need to control new land occupation, and have a positive view of emergency mitigation interventions while integrated neighbourhood upgrading takes place where conditions permit. Monitoring: Through their participation in the participatory monitoring process, community researchers demonstrated that residents in low-income neighbourhoods, with appropriate technical support, are able to participate in a landslide hazard monitoring system and to collaborate with academic researchers in data collection for analysis. Community researchers took part in the experience in order to improve the community and because they understood the importance of the process. Lessons were learned during this pilot experience about the limitations faced by this type of community participation, and on possible ways in which these community research processes can be optimized. Mitigation: Interdisciplinary and participatory analysis of the informal settlement showed that small-scale landslide hazards are directly linked to the management of water runoff. Analysis of open spaces, buildings and drainage identified four levels of water management, which provide a basis for prioritisation of low-cost community-built emergency mitigation works. These levels are: (1) municipal drainage network under main access roads; (2) community level drainage along lanes and stairways; (3) drainage in semi-private areas between houses; and (4) individual houses. The project gave priority to the tertiary network, with some interventions in the secondary network when deteriorating or deficient areas were identified. A number of interventions were also carried out in individual dwellings, generally in the case of houses that affect others, always seeking to benefit the neighbourhood. The project demonstrated the potential of mitigating risk throughout an informal settlement with a very low budget, community self-build and technical advice. Agreement: Evaluation of the pilot monitoring and mitigation projects, and multi-stakeholder workshop discussions showed that the following factors can facilitate the process of reaching agreement among the different stakeholders involved in landslide risk mitigation (in this case mainly community and local government): (1) engagement with the different stakeholders from an early stage, though not necessarily together in the beginning; (2) knowledge of the capacities and responsibilities of each stakeholder; (3) consideration of timescales (in this case a focus on the short term - 'the meantime' - was key in achieving agreement between community and local government); and (4) consideration of the resources that can be brought to bear, including community resources. |
| Exploitation Route | The findings are already being taken forward by the Working Group established by the community of Pinares and relevant local government organisations (DAGRD, DAP, EDU and ISVIMED) to identify and implement landslide risk mitigation actions in the area. The current GCRF Cities & Infrastructure (British Academy) project that the research team is undertaking during 2018 is building on these findings, and involving a further two communities in Medellin and one in Sao Paulo, Brazil. In Medellin, the findings and methods from this project and from the follow-on GCRF Cities & Infrastructure project can provide a basis for the development of an agreed approach to disaster risk management across the NE part of the city (as well as elsewhere in the city). In August 2019 the Disaster Risk Management Department of the Municipality of Medellin approached us and our project partners in the UK, as well as the community organisation that worked with us on the two GCRF-funded landslide risk management projects in Medellin to initiate a new 3-long project that will develop an integrated Risk Management Plan for the peri-urban area of Comuna 8 in Medellin, followed by a similar plan for the entire NE peri-urban area of the city by 2023. This new partnership is still in its early stages and has not as yet produced outputs or had impact. In Sao Paulo, involvement of the Instituto de Pesquisas Tecnologicas and the Instituto Geologico in the follow-on project is ensuring that the findings are available to the Municipality of Sao Paulo. The end of project dissemination events in Edinburgh and Medellin, as well as presentation of the findings in two international conferences, are intended to make the findings available to a range of organisations involved in landslide risk management and low-income neighbourhood improvement in Latin America and more widely across the Global South. |
| Sectors | Communities and Social Services/Policy |
| URL | https://www.globalurbancollaborative.org/resilience |
| Description | Impact: Key impacts relevant to each research objective by the end of the project are as follows: Perception: A low-income community (Pinares de Oriente, Medellín, Colombia) that can identify and express their understanding of the hazards they are affected by, facilitated by a relationship of trust with the research team. Perceptions from all the actors expressed in very similar ways, which allows a discussion around new interventions tending towards integrated neighbourhood upgrading. Monitoring: A group of community researchers (in Pinares de Oriente) who understand the importance of monitoring soil conditions at critical points, who feel capable of transferring their knowledge and experience to other communities, and are empowered to enter into a dialogue with local government institutions. A system for monitoring soil conditions at critical points, in order to detect and anticipate possible small-scale land movements, which allows residents in poor neighbourhoods to participate in a tested and adaptable risk management system. Openness of local government institutions in Medellín with responsibility for risk management, to the contributions that communities can make through the tested system, and a willingness to complement these activities with their own technical contributions. These include: the Planning Department (DAP), the Department for Disaster Risk Management (DAGRD), the Urban Development Company (EDU), and the Medellin Social Institute for Housing and Habitat (ISVIMED). Mitigation: Improved rainwater management and safety along spaces and paths in the pilot community (Pinares de Oriente, Medellín), as well as rainwater drainage in some individual houses. Both the monitoring process and the mitigation works have generated an awareness among the community of the risk of landslides, as well as the importance of proper management of runoff waters. This is manifested in works to improve water management by gutters and downpipes in homes that were not beneficiaries of the project, but followed its example. Participation in this community self-build process generated awareness of the need for the community to approach institutions and the private sector to negotiate possible partnerships. A hierarchy of emergency mitigation works related to water management was established, which helps both to establish priorities in interventions within the neighbourhood, and to study and negotiate other forms of financing for interventions in the public and private space. The project provided learning for both the community and local government institutions to whom the mitigation works were shown, on the importance of community self-build as a risk mitigation strategy. Agreement/Negotiation: A community aware of its ability to engage in dialogue with public administration institutions, based on a pilot experience in monitoring and mitigating the risk and its reflection on it. A community with knowledge of the basic principles of consensus-seeking negotiation, of the responsibilities that it can demand from the state, and of the commitments that it is capable of undertaking. Public administration institutions with knowledge of what the community is able to contribute in facing the risk of landslides in the short term, through monitoring and small emergency mitigation works (DAP, DAGRD, EDU and ISVIMED - see above). An NGO sector across Comunas (districts) 1, 3 and 8 in Medellin willing to support community initiatives in risk management, providing access to resources and supporting reflection on strategies to be developed through consultation. The creation of a Working Group on risk, with a specific agenda and work programme, able to be expanded to a larger part of the population, based on acceptance of the need to develop strategies to address risk in the short term, and on recognition of the respective capacities and responsibilities of the local government and the community. This Working Group involves the community of Pinares, the community-based Working Groups on Housing and Internally Displaced People in Comuna 8, DAP, DAGRD, EDU and ISVIMED. Since the project ended, in combination with the project 'Co-production Of Landslide Risk Management Strategies Through Development Of Community-based Infrastructure In Latin American Cities' funded by the GCRF British Academy Cities ad Infrastructure Programme, the following additional impacts have developed: • approximately 3,364 households supported by landslide mitigation plans across four communities (three in Medellin, Colombia including the original pilot community in the 'Resilience or Resistance?' project, and one in Sao Paulo, Brazil) • 30 houses improved with low cost mitigation works on limited budget (in the pilot project in Medellin) • Four low-income communities now engaging administration institutions using data collected and analysed themselves (three in Medellin and one in Sao Paulo). • Wider awareness of the potential and means for community-based landslide risk mitigation strategies via training of community leaders and residents across the NE sector of the city of Medellin and video production and dissemination. • NGO sector willing to support community initiatives in landslide risk management, providing access to resources and supporting reflection on strategies in both Medellin and Sao Paulo. • Involvement of two State of São Paulo government institutions (Instituto de Pesquisa Tecnologica - IPT, and Instituto Geologico - IG) in supporting low-income communities to develop landslide risk management strategies. UPDATE IN MARCH 2022: From the beginning of 2021 a partnership was set up involving Heriot-Watt University, University of Edinburgh, the Housing Board of Comuna 8 (Medellin), and Medellin Municipality's Department for Disaster Risk Management, at the request of the latter, to build on the experience of the GCRF NERC project and the follow-on GCRF British Academy project, in order to co-produce an Integrated Disaster Risk Management Plan for the North-East Urban Edge of Medellin, over a period of 3 years (2021-23). During 2021 the partnership achieved the following: (1) prepared an initial appraisal of legislation, risk conditions and previous initiatives relating to Comuna 8, which is a district in NE Medellin that is acting as a pilot for the partnership; (2) established a wider partnership group involving approximately 40 representatives of local government agencies and community organisations in Medellin to co-produce a work plan for the preparation of the Integrated Disaster Risk Management Plan; and (3) prepared and delivered a 60-hour course in disaster risk management that was taken by 24 selected participants in Medellin, mostly from community organisations, as well as a few from local government agencies, in order to prepare them to take part in the preparation of the plan in the next stages. UPDATE IN MARCH 2023: The partnership initiated in 2021 continued to work together, focusing on the preparation of an Integrated Disaster Risk Management and Climate Action Plan for Comuna 8, as a pilot towards later preparation of a similar plan for the whole North-East Urban Edge of Medellin. During 2022 the partnership achieved the following: (1) prepared an appraisal of hazards and vulnerability in Comuna 8; and (2) provided supporting documentation for a project to prepare the Integrated Disaster Risk Management and Climate Action Plan for Comuna 8, which was approved by residents in Comuna 8 through Medellin Municipality's participatory budgeting mechanism. |
| Sector | Communities and Social Services/Policy |
| Impact Types | Societal,Policy & public services |
| Description | Working Group on Risk Management in the Community of Pinares de Oriente, Medellin, Colombia |
| Geographic Reach | South America |
| Policy Influence Type | Participation in a guidance/advisory committee |
| Description | Global Challenges Research Fund Cities and Infrastructure Programme |
| Amount | £294,383 (GBP) |
| Funding ID | CI170338 |
| Organisation | The British Academy |
| Sector | Academic/University |
| Country | United Kingdom |
| Start | 09/2017 |
| End | 01/2019 |
| Description | Integrated Risk Management Plan for the North-East Urban Edge of Medellin |
| Organisation | Municipality of Medellín |
| Country | Colombia |
| Sector | Public |
| PI Contribution | I helped develop the partnership work programme, prepare and co-chair wider partnership meetings involving other local government agencies and community organisations in Medellin towards the preparation of an Integrated Risk Management Plan for the North-East Urban Edge of Medellin, prepare and deliver a 60-hour training course in disaster risk management for local government officials and community leaders in Medellin, Colombia, and organise the production of an end-of-Year 1 document to disseminate the work of the partnership, including editing it. |
| Collaborator Contribution | They helped develop the partnership work programme, prepare and co-chair wider partnership meetings involving other local government agencies and community organisations in Medellin towards the preparation of an Integrated Risk Management Plan for the North-East Urban Edge of Medellin, prepare and deliver a 60-hour training course in disaster risk management for local government officials and community leaders in Medellin, Colombia, and contribute sections to the Year 1 document. The partnership has been based on the principle of co-production, will all partners contributing in a flexible way. |
| Impact | An end of Year 1 document will be ready in April 2022. |
| Start Year | 2021 |
| Description | Blog for Rethink Earth: A community learns to mitigate landslide risk in Colombia |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A blog piece on the project is due to be published by the Stockholm Resilience Centre in late March 2018. This will disseminate the findings to a wider audience interested in resilience, in lay terms. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | https://rethink.earth/articles/ |
| Description | Colombian TV piece on the Villatina tragedy |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | In Colombia, National TV channel Caracol interviewed the lead Colombian researcher about the major landslide in 1987 next to our pilot community. This piece did not mention the project, but highlighted the issues we were working with. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://noticias.caracoltv.com/medellin/que-paso-villatina-una-verdad-sepultada-hace-30-anos |
| Description | Community disaster recovery in Latin America |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentation and discussion of the project (presentation title 'Community-based monitoring and mitigation as a basis for negotiating the co-production of landslide risk management strategies in self-built neighbourhoods in Colombia and Brazil') at a two-day event involving academics, consultants, NGOs and community leaders from UK and Latin America. The event focused on the consequences of major disasters (earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, flooding and landslides) combined with social vulnerability, which are faced by many countries in Latin America. The event aimed to understand and share experiences in relation to emerging co-created strategies for reducing vulnerability and enhancing adaptation and resilience in Latin American communities. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2019 |
| URL | https://www.ed.ac.uk/contemporary-latin-american-studies/cities-enviroment/community-disaster-recove... |
| Description | Community-based experiences in landslide risk mitigation in Latin America and the Caribbean |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | National |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dissemination event held in Edinburgh, with participation of a limited number of academics and NGO representatives based in the UK who had been targeted because of the relevance of the project to their work, and because of the likelihood they would be in a position to take forward or make use of the research findings. The event was used not only to disseminate the findings from this project, which was presented jointly by all the UK-based researchers, but also to present and discuss the experience in landslide risk management in informal settlements in Brazil and in the Caribbean. Discussion of the Brazilian experience served as a first step towards the undertaking of the follow-on GCRF Cities & Infrastructure (British Academy) project to scale up and internationalise this project's findings, and was based on a presentation by one of the Co-Is in the follow-on project, who travelled to the UK from Brazil. Discussion of the Caribbean experience was based on the presentation by Liz Holcombe (University of Bristol) of previous World Bank-funded work undertaken in various Caribbean locations, and allowed comparison of experiences and the identification of aspects to explore in the new follow-on project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Course on Disaster Risk Management |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | As part of the partnership established for the preparation of an Integrated Disaster Risk Management Plan for the North-East Urban Edge of Medellin, Colombia, the partners (Medellin Municipality, Housing Board of Comuna 8, Heriot-Watt University and University of Edinburgh) co-designed and delivered a 60-hour course which was taken by 24 people who were mostly from community organisations in Comuna 8 (Medellin), with some from local government agencies. The course contained material from our NERC project and was based on the co-management of disaster risk principles developed in our project. The course was delivered in a hybrid mode, using a venue in Medellin from where the sessions were streamed online. This helped prepare the participants to take part in the next stages of the process to develop an Integrated Disaster Risk Management Plan for the North-East Urban Edge of Medellin, which will take place during 2022/23. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021 |
| URL | https://www.acimedellin.org/dagrd-implementa-acciones-en-gestion-del-riesgo-de-desastres-con-coopera... |
| Description | Forum: Neighbourhood improvement on the hillsides of Medellin within the framework of the model for the city |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Dissemination event held in Medellin, Colombia, with the participation of over 100 members of the public, mostly from community organisations representing the ow-income communities of Medellin, and NGOs and other organisations working with them, as well as planners, local academics, etc. A number of policy-makers and decision-makers from relevant local government organisations had signed up to the event, but unfortunately few of these attended. The day-long event provided an opportunity to explain the project to a city-wide audience. The project was presented by the academic research team and by the ocal community researchers. Additional presentations were made by two members of the Brazilian team that is involved in the follow-on GCRF Cities & Infrastructure (British Academy) project, and by two Medellin organisations (an NGO and a research institute) on other relevant experiences in Medellin. The event ended with a panel of local and national (from Bogota) experts. The event helped to disseminate the findings and experience f the project to a wider relevant audience in Medellin, as well as to bridge between the project and its follow-on, as it helped highlight contextual issues that the follow-on project will need to take into account when trialling the upscaling of this project's experience. It also served to emphasise and evidence the growing interest in the issue of risk in relation to low-income settlements in Medellin. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| Description | Guest lecture - A landslide risk monitoring system and community sourced data: Experiences in Medellin (Colombia) and Sao Paulo (Brazil) (at University of Stuttgart) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | An online presentation and discussion of the research as provided to postgraduate students in the Urban Resilience Lab at the University of Stuttgart. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| Description | Guest lecture - Increasing urban resilience: Towards co-management of landslide risk in low income settlements in Medellin, Colombia (at University of Stuttgart) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Guest lecture to approx. 50 postgraduate students on the MSc Integrated Urbanism & Sustainable Design and academics at the University of Stuttgart, which prompted questions and discussion as well as some follow-up networking. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | https://www.iusd-program.net/index.php-page_id=79.html |
| Description | Launch event for GCRF-funded project URBE Latam: Comprensión de los riesgos y desarrollo de mejores capacidades en ciudades latinoamericanas |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Presentation and discussion of the project (presentation title 'Proyecto de Investigación: Gestión del Riesgo Comunitario en el Barrio El Pacífico') by Francoise Coupe and Humberto Caballero (Universidad Nacional de Colombia) at a day-long launch event for the GCRF-funded project URBE Latam: Comprensión de los riesgos y desarrollo de mejores capacidades en ciudades latinoamericanas, hosted by the Colegio Mayor de Antioquia, Medellin, Colombia. The event involved academics from UK, Colombia and Brazil; officials in local government in Medellin (disaster risk management and early warning system); and community representatives and NGOs in Medellin. This event allowed us to continue to disseminate the experience and findings from our NERC 'Resilience or Resistance?' project, as well as our follow-on British Academy-funded project, and to inform the development and implementation of the subsequent research project launched at the event (in which we are not partners). |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.colmayor.edu.co/facultades/arquitectura-ingenieria/evento-de-apertura-urbe-latam-compren... |
| Description | New 'Resilience or Resistance?' webpage with project description and freely downloadable reports |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Engagement focused website, blog or social media channel |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | New 'Resilience or Resistance?' webpage on a new website, with project description and freely downloadable reports in Spanish and English, to disseminate the research approach and findings as widely as possible. Monitoring of the website shows that since its launch in mid-2020 it has been accessed by 199 visitors (416 site sessions) from a wide range of countries around the world, with notable concentrations in UK, Portugal, Colombia, Uruguay and US. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2020 |
| URL | https://www.globalurbancollaborative.org/resilience |
| Description | Open Council Meeting (Cabildo Abierto) for Risk Mitigation and Integral Legalisation in Comuna 8 |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | Participation in an activity, workshop or similar |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | During the research process, the academic lead in Medellín brokered an agreement between the community organisations - represented by the Working Group on Housing and Domestic Public Services of Comuna 8 and the Working Group on Displaced People of Comuna 8 (see above) and by the Local Action Boards (Juntas de Acción Local) - and the Local Administration Board (Junta Administradora Local), which is the lowest tier of local government. This agreement consisted in calling an open meeting between community and local government in Comuna 8 (a district in Medellín), using the legal figure of the Cabildo Abierto, which requires the local government to attend, listen to community petitions, and respond. This type of meeting had not been called for 7 years in Comuna 8, and it was the first time that a meeting of this kind was used to address the issue of risk. 670 community residents and community organisation representatives attended, as well as representatives from local government. The event was facilitated by a local NGO. The PI and the lead Colombian academic presented the project to the audience, and this was followed by short presentations of petitions by each Local Action Board. The Local Action Board for the pilot project community of Pinares de Oriente asked for the establishment of a space for dialogue between the community an local government, with support from the universities (referring to the universities involved in this GCRF NERC project), in order to address the issue of risk in the community. The event ended with the response from local government representatives. The event was summarised in the Special Bulletin (No. 31) from the Mesa Interbarrial de Desconectados, which also included a page dedicated to the 'Voices from the Academy', which explained the GCRF NERC 'Resilience or Resistance?' project. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2017 |
| URL | http://www.cjlibertad.org/destacados/100-derecho-al-territorio/1248-cabildo-abierto-por-legalizacion... |
| Description | Press release: Scottish universities use WhatsApp to predict deadly landslides |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A press release, press conference or response to a media enquiry/interview |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Public/other audiences |
| Results and Impact | A press release was issued in early January 2018, coinciding with the broadcasting of an interview with the UK-based research team on BBC Scotland's 'Good Morning Scotland'. Press cover in the UK included 520 pieces (including news broadcasts), with a reach of 14,692,319 people. Printed press coverage included The Times, The Scotsman, and many local newspapers. A BBC Online report on the project (http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-42454413) reached 22,686 views, 96% of these UK, and the rest mainly from USA, Spain, Australia and Colombia. Radio coverage included BBC World Service, BBC Radio 5 Live (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b09k5hnj#playt=00h51m21s), BBC Scotland, and several local radio stations. TV cover included STV News at Six. The press release and the radio and TV interviews covered the main aspects of the project, highlighting the transdisciplinary and international collaboration, and the potential impact of the findings on low-income communities at risk. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |
| URL | http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-scotland-42454413 |
| Description | Regular meetings of a wider partnership group (local government / community) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A formal working group, expert panel or dialogue |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | International |
| Primary Audience | Other audiences |
| Results and Impact | Together with our partners (Municipality of Medellin's Disaster Risk Management Department, Housing Board of Comuna 8 and University of Edinburgh), during 2022 we ran a series of 5 consecutive workshops for a wider partnership we invited local government agencies and community organisations to join. These meetings were designed to reflect on the current state of disaster risk management in Medellin as a first step towards working jointly on an integrated plan for the NE urban edge of Medellin in 2022/23. They included invited speakers from Medellin, elsewhere in Colombia, and also Mexico and UK, to provide inputs on the reflection. Then, during 2023 we held two workshops with the same working group of local government agency and community organisation representatives focused on an appraisal of disaster risk (hazards and vulnerability respectively) in Comuna 8 as part of the preparation of an Integrated Disaster Risk Management Plan for Comuna 8. Each of these workshops was supported by a preparatory socio-technical workshop held with a smaller group of local government staff and a community organisation representative. The process builds on the experience we started in our original NERC project. On average each meeting was attended by between 30 and 40 representatives from Medellin local government agencies and community organisations. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2021,2022 |
| Description | Research seminar - Increasing urban resilience: Towards co-management of landslide risk in low-income settlements in Medellin, Colombia (at University of Glasgow) |
| Form Of Engagement Activity | A talk or presentation |
| Part Of Official Scheme? | No |
| Geographic Reach | Regional |
| Primary Audience | Postgraduate students |
| Results and Impact | Presentation and discussion of the research as part of the Urban Studies Research Seminar at the University of Glasgow, attended by postgraduate students, academics and general public. |
| Year(s) Of Engagement Activity | 2018 |