Public engagement in field data collection for flood and landslide risk mitigation

The turning of geo-hydrological processes into disasters can be facilitated by the lack of awareness among people at risk. Accordingly, living in areas prone to floods or landslides with a general unpreparedness both in terms of self-protection behavior and long-term risk mitigation strategies, can lead to the loss of human lives and significant damage. Engaging citizens in disaster risk reduction is one of the main challenges to enhance resilience of communities. To this aim, various approaches are being developed including public engagement in citizen science activities. This approach allows people to be involved in different phases of the scientific process, enhancing their knowledge about natural processes and risk perception.   

The HYRMA (Hydrogeological Risk Assessment through Collaborative Mapping) is a European Union financed project to promote direct participation of citizens in scientific research focusing on disaster risk reduction. The main goal of the project is to implement collaborative data collection to acquire, store, analyze, and share geo-localized data about hazard, exposure, and physical vulnerability of buildings located in selected landslide- and flash flood-prone areas of Italy. Researchers and citizens are connected by user-centered web applications designed through a bottom-up approach and made available free of charge on mobile devices. These web applications can be used by citizens in the field to collect different kinds of geo-localized data, by filling digital forms based on a very intuitive and user-friendly interface, as well as by capturing photographs and reporting notes or comments. The forms included in the web applications are developed considering hazards of the study sites, with the support of local stakeholders. The forms, specifically, allow collect datasets for the following purposes: 1) damage estimation in the aftermath of geo-hydrological events, or to assess physical vulnerability of buildings in areas at risk; 2) reporting real-time information on flood events.

In order to test the first version of the forms, students of public and private secondary schools were trained and engaged by researchers with the support of their teachers and volunteers of the local Civil Protection groups. Differently-abled students with specific interests in practical activities including the use of digital tools were also involved. The first tests provided encouraging results on several aspects, together with criticisms that are being exploited to improve some sections of the web applications. Students demonstrated an easy and intuitive use of the web applications and, interestingly, they well understood the research aims and citizen science principles. This preliminary feedback suggests a successful use of the participatory approach implemented in the HYRMA project for raising awareness of people at risk, and encourages similar activities with other citizen categories.

This project has received funding from the European Union – Next Generation EU, under grant agreement 2022NRAW3Z_PE10_PRIN2022.