UK Economic and Social Research Council (abstract in English, ESRC) announced, yesterday (15), that the project ‘Waterproofing Data’ – Waterproof Data – Winner in the ‘Large Social Impact’ category. Using community-generated data and analysis, the project developed an innovative approach that bridges education and science. In addition to conservation measures and measures, it aims to increase the resilience and improve the capacity of residents of flood-prone areas in Brazil.
An international team of researchers with multi-disciplinary backgrounds from Brazil, Germany and the United Kingdom – led by researcher João Porto de Albuquerque from the University of Glasgow – worked with the National Natural Disaster Observatory and the Semadan Education Project. Warnings (Cemaden) – the Research Unit of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation – and with Fundação Getulio Vargas, to develop knowledge to prevent catastrophic risks.
“Instead of just collecting data, the citizen science method proposed by the Cemaden Education project involves school communities and civil defenses from the five regions of Brazil as co-producers of knowledge.”, exemplifies researcher Rachel Trajber, coordinator of Cemaden Education. . In practice, he explains, this has happened through the creation of monitoring networks of PET bottle rain gauges in schools and homes, along with data from the ‘Waterproof Data’ application, along with people’s memories of disasters, adding: “Also, the opportunity to deal with problems like floods, floods and landslides in different ways. Provided and developed ways for them to cope with the situation.
Drajber also says that lessons learned from applied methodology—where researchers and citizens collaborate at all stages of knowledge production—show that this approach can be used to improve climate action led by communities and schools. “This action is particularly targeted at areas that are vulnerable to increased risks of extreme weather events.”, emphasizes the researcher.
Waterproof design
The waterproofing project was born out of a collaboration and partnership between companies from three countries: Brazil, Germany and the United Kingdom. In Brazil, the participation of the Research Unit of the Ministry of Science, Technology and Innovation – National Center for Monitoring and Warning of Natural Disasters (Semadan) and the Getulio Vargas Foundation (FGV). In Germany, the University of Heidelberg and in the United Kingdom, the Universities of Glasgow and Warwick.
In the project, 21 pollinators/propagators – teachers and members of the civil protection partners of Semadan Educaso – participated in the five regions of the country: São Paulo, Santa Catarina, Acre, Pernambuco and Mato Grosso, with more than 200 participants. People from vulnerable communities.
The mobile application allows providing rain gauge data, flood prone areas, weather forecast, rainfall intensity, flood areas and river water level.
Source: Ascom/Cemaden
- Award in the United Kingdom for the Waterproof Data Project with the participation of Semadan Education Project.
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