Introduction to the UNESCO-RAPCA project
The United Nations Educational, Science and Cultural Organization (UNESCO) and the Central American Centre for Natural Disaster Prevention (Centro de Coordinación para la Prevención de los Desastres Naturales en América Central (CEPREDENAC), have developed the Regional Action Programme Central America (RAPCA) since 1999, with the technical support from the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), and financial support from the Netherlands government.
In Central America, information for disaster reduction (technical studies, geographical data, etc) usually exists, but is not (readily) available to local authorities and other stakeholders. The information is also almost never available in a form that facilitates decision making. With the use of GIS and remote sensing the possible effects on human and physical infrastructure of natural phenomena like earthquakes, landslides, volcanic eruptions and floods can be mapped and made visible. If this is done in a proper way, GIS and remote sensing can be used as a powerful tool for analysis of hazard, vulnerability and risk, resulting in the development of different scenarios and concrete measures for disaster prevention. To achieve this, professionals in developing countries need to be trained in the application of GIS and remote sensing for disaster reduction.
Objectives of the UNESCO RAPCA project
- Training of professionals from Central America in the use of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) and Remote Sensing techniques for natural disaster prevention.
- Development of a training package on the use of GIS and RS for Natural Hazard, Vulnerability and Risk Assessment,
- Development of a series of pilot studies in Central America which can be used as illustrative case studies on the use of GIS and RS for disaster prevention at the local level.
- Transfer of the results (case studies and training package) to other professionals through CD-ROMS and Internet.
Training package
The training package (módulo de capacitación) which has been developed as one of the main results of the project. The training package has been developed in Spanish and is available on CD-ROM through UNESCO or ITC, or through the Internet sites of ITC, CEPREDENAC and UNESCO. The training package contains educational materials in the form of PDF files, GIS exercises and case study reports. The materials are only for educational purposes and may not be used for comercial purposes.
The training package has the following objectives:
- Learning the basic concepts of Geographic Information Systems (GIS)
- Learning the basic concepts of Remote Sensing (RS)
- Hands-on experience on using a GIS software ILWIS , which is easy to learn
- Introduction to the basic concepts of hazards, vulnerability and risk
- Introduction to the various methods for the use of GIS and Remote Sensing for mapping and analyzing natural hazards.
- Learning the results of a series of pilot studies in Central America, which can be used as illustrative case studies on the use of GIS and RS for disaster prevention at the local level.