Capacity Building in Disaster Geo-information Management in Developing Countries
International Seminar 23 to 25 September 2009
An international Executive Seminar on “Capacity building in disaster geo-information management in developing countries“ was held at ITC from 23 to 25 September 2009. Forty-five experts dealing with capacity building in the use of geo-information for disaster risk management gathered to discuss the current state of existing capacity, as well as the remaining gaps and optimal modes of implementing capacity building for different beneficiary types. Representatives from international organisations (e.g. World Bank, UN-ISDR, UNITAR/UNOSAT, UN-OOSA), geodata providers (e.g. NASA, EUMETSAT), non-governmental organisations (e.g. MapAction), knowledge centres and university networks (e.g. UN-affiliated training centres, ADPC), as well as user organisations, attended the seminar.
Seminar Rationale
The world is confronted with the rapidly growing impact of disasters (a result of many factors that cause an increase in the vulnerability of society), combined with an increase in (hydrometeorological) hazard events related to climatic change and unsuitable land use practices. The possible impacts of hazardous events are severe, particularly in developing countries, and governments have to incorporate risk reduction strategies in development planning at different adminstrative and spatial levels. The evaluation of expected losses due to hazardous events requires a spatial analysis, as all components of a risk assessment differ in space and time. Therefore, risk assessment and management can be carried out effectively only if based on extensive, multidisciplinary studies based on spatial information. There is an urgent need to include the concepts of disaster geo-information management in emergency preparedness planning, spatial planning and environmental impact assessment, and this requires the sustained capacity building and training of disaster management experts and professionals. The Hyogo Framework of Action 2005-2015 of the UN-ISDR indicates risk assessment and education as two key areas for the development of action in the coming years.
Many initiatives dealing with earth observation and geo-information for disaster management are ongoing and focus on developing countries (e.g. GEOSS, GMES, UN-SPIDER, ESA/TIGER and the International Charter Space and Major Disasters). Many of these efforts require knowledgeable resource persons on the ground. Whether there is sufficient absorption capacity in economically less developed countries and how efficient application of earth observation can be achieved are recurrent issues in these initiatives.
ITC has been active in building capacity in developing countries through the United Nations University–ITC School for Disaster Geo-Information Management (UNU-ITC DGIM), its main objective being to support the capacity building of organisations in developing countries by training individuals in the collection, management, analysis and dissemination of spatial information before, during and after disaster events.
Seminar Objectives
The seminar had the following objectives:
- identification of the capacity needs of organisations working on disaster risk management topics
- assessment of existing capacity gaps in the use of geo-information for disaster risk management from the perspective of the different stakeholders
- evaluation of how well the diverse capacity needs are reflected in existing capacity building measures
- assessment of the suitability and lasting effectiveness of different capacity building modes (e.g. traditional degree programmes, short courses, distance education, university networks)
- assessment of the role of research in capacity building, and how it can be strengthened
- definition of the role of the recently established UN-SPIDER Capacity Building Working Group.
Outcomes
In addition to selected presentations, much time during the seminar was devoted to discussion sessions to address these objectives, leading to the following principal observations:
- The organisations providing spatial information and services for disaster risk management have very mixed views on the beneficiaries of their products. This is related to:
- the nature of the organisations (e.g. academic, governmental, non-governmental) and their attitude towards capacity building in geo-information for disaster risk management (project offspring, main objective, on the job)
- the difference between disaster risk management and disaster response. - The beneficiaries and users, their responsibilities, and the requirements for geo-information are highly variable in the different phases of disaster risk management, and this needs to be reflected in capacity building efforts.
- Typically, the responsibility for risk assessment is not as well defined as the responsibility for disaster response, although this is critical for effective capacity development.
- The tendency is to focus on maximising the (technical) capacity and effectiveness of different stakeholders, while neglecting the elements in the data/information flow or chain of command that are not working optimally. This can be the “last mile” (e.g. early warning at village level) or the weakest link in the chain (e.g. lack of communication between two governmental units). Without addressing these weaknesses there can be no effective disaster risk management.
- The random organisation of one-off short courses on the use of geo-information for disaster risk management, which thus target individuals, is not an effective capacity building approach.
- It is desirable to create a graphical overview (e.g. a world map of capacity) that reflects:
- identified needs for different aspects of disaster risk management
-who has done what sort of capacity building
-when and who benefited
as well as to list and link these individuals and organisations. The last can increase their visibility to make the trained people wanted and needed. The UN-SPIDER Knowledge Portal was identified as a potential platform for such an inventory. - Sustainable capacity development in the use of spatial information in disaster risk management is best carried out through the support of local universities, whereby they incorporate the aspects of disaster risk management relevant to each discipline and support the setting up of disaster risk management curricula.
- Real capacity development should combine education and original research on applying tools and techniques in the specific country situations.
- Universities organised in networks will only support each other if they see mutual benefit in exchanging information, curricula, teaching staff, researchers and students.
- The training of in-service staff of the organisations involved is best performed in a blended learning approach, combining e-learning with short intensive courses.
- Open materials (open courseware, open-source models and software, and open access to data) should be used in capacity development.
Our aim is to continue this discussion in order to arrive at a comprehensive, sustainable and stakeholder-specific capacity building strategy for the widespread incorporation of geo-information concepts and data in all phases of disaster risk management.
Presentations by participants
Session 1 - Opening
» van Westen ITC Introduction (PDF 244 KB)
Session 2 - The role of geoinformation for disaster risk assessment in developing countries
» Ishizawa Worldbank CAPRA (PDF 8,896 KB)
» Pisano UNITAR (PDF 2,052 KB)
» Villagran UNSPIDER (PDF 686 KB)
Session 3 - Requirements for capacity building in GI4DGIM
» Cherrington CATHALAC (PDF 3,243 KB)
» Morris MapAction (PDF 1,306 KB)
Session 4 - Parallel breakout discussion sessions
» Presentation Group 1 (PDF 110 KB)
» Presentation Group 2 (PDF 41 KB)
Session 5 - International initiatives for GI & capacity building in DRR
» ITC GEONETCast (ZIP 79,071 KB)
» Grasso GEO (PDF 573 KB)
» Verschuur EUMETSAT (PDF 2,056 KB)
Session 6 - Capacity building: different modes of implementation
» Arambepola ADPC (PDF 262 KB)
» Boccardo ITHACA (PDF 1,847 KB
» Zeil Z GIS (PDF 692 KB)
Session 7 - Regional Gi4DRM capacity & needs, and role of regional networks
» Amador RUNIRED (PDF 2,885 KB)
» Annegarn UNEDRA (PDF 234 KB)
» Karnawati ASEAN (PDF 1,522 KB)
Session 8 - Parallel breakout discussion sessions
» Role of Universities (PDF 28 KB)
» Successful delivery modes (PDF 40 KB)
Session 9 - United Nations University and capacity building for DRR
» van Westen UNU-ITC DGIM (PDF 981 KB)
» Zevenbergen UNU-ITC Land Adminstration (PDF 310 KB)
Session 10 - Capacity building and research in GI4DGIM
» Hazarika AIT (PDF 808 KB)
» Sopaheluwakan LIPI (PDF 1,050 KB
» Zlatanova TUDelft (PDF 621 KB)
For further information contact Norman Kerle
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