trained them to use a combination of civil and geotechnical engineering methodologies so they know what they are looking for and where they should be monitoring. They are taking regular photographs at set points from carefully mapped angles during and after periods of rain. Using Whatsapp is important as it records the time and date automatically and is a platform which is globally accessible. These photographs allow us to see relative movements and early signs of differential movements as well as highlighting where water enters and exits the slopes, the volumes of runoff, and the impact of paved and unpaved areas. “Just a few hundred meters from where we’ve been working, there were more than 500 deaths due to a tragic landslide back in 1987; and in April [2017], 17 people lost their lives in a landslide in the nearby city of Manizales,” Medero said. “Despite this, when we started, people in this area were more afraid of losing their home than they were of a landslide. They feared eviction from the city council if they spoke up about the risks. Some of our work has been about addressing these perceptions, proving that communities can monitor the situation for themselves, and finding ways to mitigate the problems they face, including developing water collection methods and emergency draining solutions. “We’ve also been facilitating meetings between the local council and the community to enable them to work together to create longer term major drainage works as well as finding resolutions to the planning is- sues that affect informal settlements that fall outwith the boundaries of city authorities. We believe this model of monitoring, engineering, and community involvement has the potential to work globally. It allows communities, local councils, and ultimately, countries to take appropri- ate action without creating panic.” Dr Soledad Garcia Ferrari, senior lecturer in Architectural Design from the University of Edinburgh, said, “Based on the monitoring strategies
implemented, our aimwas to manage rainwater, a major triggering factor for landslides, with affordable mitigation strategies which were able to help the community understand how they could reduce the risk of small landslides within the settlement. "Three levels of water management networks were identified to imple- ment mitigation measures which reflected different levels of responsibil- ity, from households to local authority. Our aim is for the community to learn and share learning of the causes of landslides through monitoring the territory and for communities to continue to take ownership when implementing measures directed at mitigating landslide risk” The initial project is being funded by the Global Challenges Research Fund through the Natural Environment Research Council, with ad- ditional funding now secured through the Global Challenges Research Fund (the British Academy’s Cities & Infrastructure Program) to roll out the model to two more communities in Medellin City in 2018. The new project will also expand the coverage by applying the developed model to a favela in São Paulo, Brazil, alongside academics from the University of São Paulo. Professor John Underhill, chief scientist for Heriot-Watt University, said, “As a global university with five campuses across three continents, we are focused on addressing global problems. The Medellin City project is an exemplar where transformational solutions can assist specific communities and have the potential to be applied across the world. We welcome and are actively seeking collaboration with other universities, industry, and governments to achieve this goal.”
Information provided by Heriot-Watt University (www.hw.ac.uk).
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csengineermag.com
march 2018
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