No such thing as natural disasters: AIS collaborates with EcoSkwela on climate and disaster literacy and hazard mapping workshop

Last 16 August, the Climate and Disaster Resilience (CDR) Program of the Ateneo Institute of Sustainability (AIS), together with EcoSkwela: Citizen Science Lab, hosted a Climate and Disasters Workshop at Ateneo de Manila University. This is part of EcoSkwela’s month-long series of workshops focused on environmental conservation using citizen science methods. 

Students and teachers engaged in various activities and discussions held at the event. To build foundational knowledge, Mr Daniel C Ratilla, Program Head for CDR, introduced the participants to the basic concepts of climate and disaster literacy, while Ms Ivy Geraldine D Ferrer, Program Officer for CDR, demonstrated using locally accessible tools such as Hazard Hunter PH, Project NOAH, and GeoAnalytics PH in creating hazard maps. 

Using the Loyola Heights campus as a “living laboratory,” participants walked along Seminary Road, visiting the nearest point of the West Valley Fault. Participants were also able to see a view overlooking Marikina and Rizal, where the East Valley Fault is located. Facilitators discussed the usage of tools such as FaultFinder to detect and locate potential hazards in the area, and encouraged participants to creatively think of possible mitigation strategies. These hands-on activities demonstrate readily available technologies to include citizen participation in disaster resilience and mitigation efforts.

Participants were also given a chance to present their hazard maps as a way to hone potential risk communication to the community and raise questions regarding the concepts taught. The activity underscores the importance of the participants’ way of visualization in understanding hazard information as a critical resource for the general public and government agencies.

EcoSkwela is a project launched by the organizations Save Philippine Seas and the Embassy of France to the Philippines and Micronesia under their larger program, Generation of Sea and Earth Advocates.