Country: Philippines
Registration deadline: 29 Feb 2020
Starting date: 25 Mar 2020
Ending date: 27 Mar 2020
Rapid population growth and urbanization coupled with extreme climatic events are causing a rapid increase in the vulnerability of communities exposed to hazardous events all over the world. Human, economic, livelihood and ecological losses from hazardous events keep increasing. Achieving sustainable development and building urban resilience call for science-based and data-informed planning and management of cities. Technology and tools like Geographic Information System (GIS) and Remote Sensing (RS) have great potential to strengthen the planning capabilities of cities, improve the delivery of critical services, optimize resources, and reduce the cost for maintenance and monitoring. GIS-RS technology serves as the foundation for assessing and managing hazards and risks and for reducing urban vulnerability.
GIS / RS enables the spatial representation of the demographics of a city and the relationships of populations to the natural and built environments, livelihood sources and cultural and historical assets. The information is stored in digitized format in databases as structured layers of information. A visualization application can turn these layers into maps of interest to the user. For example, areas subject to flooding can be visualized together with water streams, population and livelihood assets; earthquake sources can be mapped together with critical infrastructure and transportation systems; vulnerable populations can be identified within the hazard potential of their neighborhoods.
With the advance of computing technology and the availability of open-source software applications, GIS-RS is now accessible to everyone at little or no cost. Government agencies, private organizations, NGOs and civil society organizations are increasingly using GIS-RS to manage their operations and to develop the reach of their business and services. In particular, most cities around the World are integrating GIS-RS operations in their operations. By acquiring skills in GIS-RS DRM professionals, city planners and managers, emergency managers, and asset managers can keep up with the technological trends and possess the skill-sets for the job environment of today and the future. The value of GIS-RS skills is increasingly recognized in the work environment. Similarly, GIS-RS is the backbone technology for sustainable development, and for achieving resilient communities and infrastructure.
BOOT CAMP OBJECTIVES:
The GIS for Urban Resilience Bootcamp will provide the participants with the practical skills to prepare, manipulate and create GIS-RS visual displays of data and information that are most relevant to urban resilience and disaster risk management, using free open-source software and tools. Using GIS-RS examples and exercises, participants will build risk management and emergency planning applications through display and analysis of spatial data, satellite data, open-source data, and publicly available GIS tools. Participants will build an understanding of hazard, vulnerability, and risk in the spatial framework of cities.
Upon completion of the course, the participants will learn:
- Basic concepts of Urban Resilience
- How GIS and RS can be useful in building urban resilience
- The power of open-source data and tools for building urban resilience
- Installing, setting up and navigating through QGIS software
- Components of GIS, common GIS data formats & types
- Data conversion, topological correction and geoprocessing tools of QGIS
- Map projection systems and different elements of a map
- Various Remote Sensing Image repositories and its use in Disaster Risk Management
- Geospatial Exposure Database creation and management techniques using open source tools (PostGIS & PgAdmin)
- Evaluating spatial data requirements in disaster risk management
- Utilizing GIS and RS capabilities for improving disaster informed decision making and planning.
BOOT CAMP CONTENTS:
Module 1: Introduction to GIS and Urban Resilience
- What is Urban Resilience?
- How are GIS and Remote sensing useful in building Urban Resilience?
- Open Source Spatial tools to build Urban Resilience
Module 2: Handling spatial information (Introduction to QGIS)
- Components of GIS
- Common GIS data formats
- Different types of GIS data (points, lines, polygons)
- Topological rectification for improving the accuracy of outputs
- Open data repositories and its usage
- Basic geoprocessing tools
- Map projection systems, datum, and their relevance
- Different elements of a map and creating a map layout
Module 3: Role of remote sensing in building urban resilience
- Open source satellite images Repositories
- Post hazard disaster damage assessment using Remote Sensing
Module 4: Database Management
- Metadata: application and purpose
- Data management techniques
- Creating an exposure database and its relevance using open source tools (PostGIS, pgAdmin)
Module 5: Use of GIS and RS to improve disaster informed decision making and planning (mini-projects)
- Identifying potentially isolated areas given specific scenarios
- Proposing methods to optimize the existing transport network to facilitate evacuation
- Identifying challenges in collecting, processing, integrating, and management of spatial data into disaster risk management cycle
TRAINING METHODOLOGY:
The Boot Camp is a face-to-face training method which takes place in a single place where a number of participants remain together.
The Boot Camp is structured into:
- Lectures to teach the basic fundamentals but also to teach a methodology for specific topics, with an attempt to make the lectures as interactive as possible.
- Examples and case studies to illustrate the lectures.
- Hands-on exercises and workshops, preferably on small groups
- Table-top discussions in small groups to work on the mini-projects, creating virtual real-world scenarios.
- Q&A sessions and informal discussions are facilitated to encourage a collegial learning environment.
- Opportunities for peer-to-peer sharing (e.g., asking participants to bring their own examples or problems; or ask questions prior to the Boot Camp )
The training will provide practical, hands-on GIS problem solving, by making use of Free Open Source GIS software such as Quantum GIS, Google Earth, and PostGIS.
BOOT CAMP POLICIES: All teaching and reference materials are in English.
What is included in the event fee?
The standard course fee of 750 USD covers the course tuition, training materials, lunch and snacks for the three days of training. Participants will be responsible for their own travel expenses and arrangements, accommodation, airport transfers, visa application, health/accident insurance, payment processing fees, any bank charges, and other personal expenses. Scholarships and discounts are available.
We are offering a 10% discount for women, persons with disabilities, and organizations with more than 3 participants. A limited number of partial scholarships are available for NGO representatives, emergency management professionals in developing countries, and locally-based Filipinos. Please note that each participant can only avail of one type of discount. To know more information contact us at gis-ur@emi-megacities.org
Only the first 35 participants can be accommodated for this event.
Register now at http://bit.ly/GISURBootcampRegistration
Target Audience
Participants from countries around the world but particularly from developing and least-developed countries can enroll in the boot camp. They can be professionals, practitioners, and executives who are engaged or have an interest in urban resilience and the reduction of risks in the management and development of cities and urban areas. Individuals can be from the public sector (particularly local governments), private organizations, NGOs and civil society groups concerned with emergency management, disaster risk management, resilience of critical infrastructure, earthquake, risk reduction and climate change adaptation. Prerequisite GIS knowledge is not required to participate in the Boot Camp.
How to register:
Register now at http://bit.ly/GISURBootcampRegistration
