Citizen observatories applied to geological risk management

Resumen

The European Interreg AGEO project focuses on the management of geological risks in different areas of European countries with territories in the Atlantic area. AGEO will launch several Citizen’s observatory pilots on geohazards according to regional priorities. The aim is to engage with local communities to actively participate in risk preparedness and monitoring and incorporate local capacities into risk management systems. Experiences gained during the implementation of the Citizen’s Observatory pilots will be used to formulate recommendations for the creation of future observatories in response to the widest range of hazards (both natural and human-induced) in the Atlantic region. That is why the project has several partners formed by countries of the Atlantic Area, including Portugal, Spain and Ireland. In each of these countries, a specific geological risk is studied, where the aim is to implement citizen participation. Since the project duration is 3 years, the way to implement the citizen observatory in the different pilots is through the following aspects: a) unification: common definition of the concepts of risk and vulnerability for geological risks that are similar within the project; b) dissemination: conducting outreach activities aimed at raising awareness of the project to society and relevant authorities; c) commitment: establishment of links and networks with the emergency services and local authorities related to geological risk management, in order to create synergies that help to manage risks more effectively, in addition to society being more involved in such events; d) creation of a mobile app through which citizens can report through photographs and providing their geographical coordinates, where and how the geological fall they have seen has occurred, in order to create citizen science among all. With the collection of data by citizens, the following results are achieved: involving people in local risk management, speeding up the intervention of emergency services more quickly due to improved connectivity between those involved, better monitoring of events by scientists, who manage to have a greater amount of data than they would normally have if they had not involved citizens in these processes.