Environment /Environnement

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    Mongolia case study : "My Homeland" information system for communication of the herders, the local government, and the mining company towards managing grievance collaboratively
    (JEMR Consulting LLC, MN, 2011) Oyun, Ravsal; Mendbayar, Byambaa
    The study investigated root causes of problems and conflicts among three main stakeholders around mining in the Mongolia Gobi: herders, mining company(s) and local government. It developed and tested an information system, “My Homeland” that would facilitate communication, collaboration and grievance management. The “My Homeland” system showed that content types such as scientific, traditional, or regulatory can be systematized in relation to mining and the environment, and can assist in mitigation of conflicts from land use, and environmental, and social problems caused by mining.
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    Final technical report : GES information system to motivate reliable business relation for Gobi eco-system, January 2009 – January 2010
    (JEMR Consulting LLC, Ulaanbaatar, MN, 2011) Oyun, R.
    The project introduced a web portal to rural residents and demonstrated its use for communication and information sharing, as facilitation of a collaboratively managed grievance mechanism. Mongolian legislation that set rights and duties of citizen, business and government was studied and analyzed in the mining and environmental conflict solving contexts. Because of the harmful activities of some mining companies there is increased public awareness and events of violence over the use of community land and resources. Pastoral animal husbandry has been the only sustainable source of livelihood for the people for thousands of years in the fragile Mongolian Gobi ecosystem.
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    Report of Writeshop : a Writeshop to enhance the capacities of IDRC post Tsunami project partner in India on documentation, 29 September 2009 – 02 October 2009
    (Association for Stimulating Know How (ASK), Gurgaon, Haryana, IN, 2009)
    To assist researchers in understanding the importance of project documentation, a post-tsunami workshop was coordinated for practitioners in the area of Disaster Risk Reduction, and community resilience building, to help build capacities to document research and practice: being able to conceptualize the narrative text, comprising conceptual, technical [field tested methods (tools) and approaches (process)] and stories of community change (case studies). The writeshop facilitator and participants shared suggestions and comments for improving content for case studies.
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    Strengthening resilience in tsunami-affected communities : coastal bioshields, livelihood development, and village knowledge centres in India and Sri Lanka; final report (April 2006 to March 2009)
    (M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation, Chennai, IN, 2009) M.S. Swaminathan Research Foundation
    Mangrove and non-mangrove bioshields, livelihood development and diversification, and information and communications for resilience: all were addressed in this project. The project linked ecological rehabilitation, livelihood development, and access to information, through building local capacities of affected coastal communities and grassroots partner organizations. With participation of community and strategic partners, mangrove bioshield is established in about 280 ha, and non-mangrove bioshield in 27 ha and these strategies are showing promising results. Project components include community mobilization and organization, establishment of mangrove and non-mangrove bioshield, establishment of Village Resource and Village Knowledge Centres, strengthening livelihoods, and community-based disaster risk reduction.
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    Fostering sustainable disaster resilient communities : a concept paper, v2.1
    (LIRNEasia, Colombo, LK, 2008) Udu-gama, Natasha
    The 2004 Indian Ocean tsunami highlighted the need for disaster risk reduction actions to minimize the harm that can be caused by hazards in general and by rapid-onset, large-scale geographical hazards such as cyclones and tsunamis. In 2006-07 LIRNEasia and Sarvodaya conducted a pilot project to evaluate last-mile hazard information systems in 32 tsunami-affected villages, in the context of Sarvodaya's strategic commitment to make all of their 15,000 villages (around 40% of the total in Sri Lanka) disaster resilient. Based on the research, it was concluded that disaster resilience would require a focus on village organization and an effective melding of communication over time (through contingency planning, training and simulations) and communication over space (using ICTs found to be effective in the pilot project). It is also necessary to have a hazard information hub (HIH) that functions on a 24/7 basis and effective protocols and procedures for its efficient and reliable operation. The planning, training and simulations have to be done on a continuing basis with the trainers returning to each organized village at regular intervals…
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    Two complementary mobile technologies for disaster risk reduction through warning
    (LIRNEasia, Colombo, LK, 2008) Samarajiva, Rohan; Waidyanatha, Nuwan
    Disaster risk reduction is a core function of government. It is possible to significantly improve this government function using mobile application and leveraging the explosive diffusion of the technology even among the poor in developing countries. Coordination within government, including communication to first responders responsible for evacuation and localized warnings, and communication to mass media who serve a critical function in public warning, can be achieved through the use of an SMS engine supplemented as necessary by an informative and robust website. Cell broadcasting can serve as an extremely useful addition to the conventional public warning methods, especially in countries with significant mobile penetration.
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    Evaluating last-mile hazard information dissemination : a research proposal
    (LIRNEasia, Colombo, LK, 2008) Samarajiva, Rohan
    This is a comprehensive and detailed report regarding implementation of a first-responders ICT strategy for emergency communication and disaster management in Sri Lanka. The project showed that ICTs can be incorporated into communities and form a critical infrastructure. However, from a technical perspective all ICTs used in the hazard information dissemination system (HazInfo Pilot) need upgrading to receive Complete Full-CAP (Common Alerting Protocol) messages before their use in the Last-Mile Communities of Sri Lanka. Sri Lankan society is not used to working according to plans, nor adhering to concepts of deadlines. Disastrous weather events and ongoing civil conflicts are impediments to pilot project planning.
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    Hazard warnings in Sri Lanka : challenges of internetworking with common alerting protocol
    (ISCRAM, Brussels, BE, 2007) Gow, Gordon; Anderson, Peter; Waidyanatha, Nuwan
    There is a growing call for the use of open source content standards for all-hazards, all-media alert and notification systems. This paper presents findings on the implementation of Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) as a content standard for a community-based hazard information network in Sri Lanka. CAP is being deployed as part of the HazInfo project, which has established last-mile networking capability for 32 tsunami-affected villages in Sri Lanka in order to study the suitability of various Information Communication Technologies (ICTs) for a standards-based community hazard information system. Results to date suggest that the basic internetworking arrangement at lower technical layers has proven to be reasonably robust and reliable but that a key challenge remains in the upper layers of application software and content provision. This is evident in the apparent difficulties faced when implementing CAP messaging over multiple last-mile systems that include commercial satellite and terrestrial network technologies (C/L/X-Band, GSM, and CDMA in modes of voice and text). Lessons learned from silent tests and live exercises point to several key bottlenecks in the system where the integrity of CAP messages is compromised due to problems associated with software interoperability or direct human intervention. The wider implication of this finding is that content standards by themselves are not sufficient to support appropriate and timely emergency response activities. Those working with content standards for hazard information systems must consider closely the interoperability issues at various layers of interconnectivity.
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    Last-Mile Hazard Warnings System : evaluation of a pilot for a national implementation plan
    (IEICE, Tokyo, JP, 2008) Waidyanatha, Nuwan
    The plan of the Community-based Last-Mile Hazard Warning System (LM-HWS) is to complement the efforts at the National and Global levels by preparing the last-mile communication segment of an end-to-end hazard detection and notification chain of systems. While the main focus in the world is on detection and monitoring systems very little or no emphasis is given to ‘last-mile’ segment of a National Early Warning System (NEWS). The LM-HWS pilot phase completed in May 2007 deployed and assessed various alert and notification Information Communication Technologies (ICT) and the relevant processes intended to reduce the vulnerability of local communities to natural and manmade hazards in the last-mile of Sri Lanka. The project adopts an “all-hazards, all-media” approach designed around a set of five wireless communication technologies. The pilot project involved deployment, training, and field-testing of the technologies, in various combinations, across 32 tsunami-affected villages, using Common Alerting Protocol (CAP) for data interchange with content provided in three languages (English, Sinhalese and Tamil). This paper reports on findings from a series of field tests conducted in Sri Lanka to compare the performance of the centralized message five ‘last-mile’ devices with their relative effectiveness in terms of alert and notification capabilities. One finding indicate that overall performance of the alert and notification system is enhanced when a village is equipped with a technology combination that enhances “complimentary redundancy” in reliability and effectiveness. Second finding indicates that the reliability can be enhanced by introducing a Multilanguage single input multiple output software application (i.e. CAP Broker) at the central message relay. Further implications of these findings for planning and future research are discussed. Third aspects of the findings imply that the first responders require rigorous training and certification in emergency communication to avoid ambiguity and misinformation. The Last-Mile Hazard Warning System takes an all-hazards all-media approach in reacting to global and local hazard warnings The LM-HWS project is pioneering this work providing policy makers in the region with assessment methods and analytics to justify the best practices in deploying a communication system for multi-hazard alerting and notification.
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    Challenges of optimizing common alerting protocol for SMS based GSM devices in last-mile hazard warnings in Sri Lanka
    (LIRNEasia, Colombo, LK, 2008) Waidyanatha, Nuwan; Dias, D.; Purasinghe, H.
    The aim of the Last-Mile Hazard Warning System (LM-HWS) is to deploy various alert and notification wireless technologies intended to reduce the vulnerability of local communities to natural and manmade hazards in Sri Lanka. The project adopts an “all-hazards, all-media” approach designed around a set of five wireless communication technologies. The pilot project entitled, “Evaluating Last-Mile Hazard Information Dissemination”, or the “HazInfo Project”, involved deployment, training, and field-testing of the technologies, in various combinations, across 32 tsunami-affected villages, using the “Common Alerting Protocol ” (CAP) for data interchange with content provided in three languages (English, Sinhalese and Tamil). Results to date suggest that the basic internetworking arrangement at lower technical layers has proven to be reasonably robust and reliable but that a key challenge remains in the upper layers of application software and content provision. This is evident in the apparent difficulties faced when implementing CAP messaging over a LM-HWS that included two GSM Technology solutions. Lessons learned from silent tests and live exercises point to several key bottlenecks in the GSM solutions where the integrity of CAP messages is compromised due to problems associated with technological boundaries, technical difficulties, software interoperability, and direct human intervention. Those working with content standards and development of software for hazard information systems must consider closely the interoperability issues at various layers of interconnectivity as well as compromising technological uncertainty caused by human mishaps. As field trials suggest, text based alerting such as cell broadcasting (or short message services) can not be introduced for public alerting until a common content standard is agreed upon that takes into consideration the restrictions imposed as a result of miniaturization of mobile handheld devices that prevent from displaying unambiguous alert messages. This paper reports on findings from a series of field tests conducted in Sri Lanka to compare the reliability of the two GSM solutions with their relative effectiveness in terms of alert and notification capabilities in the last-mile of an early warning system
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    Community-based hazard warning in Sri Lanka : miniaturization assessment of terminal devices in the last-mile link
    (LIRNEasia, Colombo, LK, 2008) Waidyanatha, Nuwan; Gow, Gordon; Anderson, Peter
    The M=9+ earthquake in Sumatara, Indonesia, on December 26, 2004 at 00:59 GMT triggered destructive tsunami waves, which greatly affected Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives, and Thailand. People were caught unawares as there was no warning system in place for tsunamis in the Indian Ocean. Overall it is estimated that more than 250,000 in the region perished. The aim of the Last-Mile Hazard Warning System (LM-HWS) was to deploy various alert and notification wireless technologies intended to reduce the vulnerability of local communities to natural and manmade hazards in Sri Lanka. The project adopted an “all-hazards, all-media” approach designed around a set of five wireless communication technologies: Addressable Satellite Radios for Emergency Alerting, Remote Alarm Devices, Mobile Phones, Fixed Phones and Very Small Aperture Terminals. The pilot project entitled, “Evaluating Last-Mile Hazard Information Dissemination”, or the “HazInfo Project”, involved deployment, training, and field-testing of the technologies, in various combinations, across 32 tsunami-affected villages, using the “Common Alerting Protocol ” (CAP) for data interchange with content provided in three languages (English, Sinhalese and Tamil). The ultimate LM-HWS intentions are to introduce Alerting and Notification to improve the “situational awareness” of all-hazards in 15,000 Sarvodaya embedded Communities in the Island of Sri Lanka. While this paper discusses the overall performance of the LM-HWS its main purpose is to report on one aspect of the effectiveness measure - identifying the need for miniaturized terminal devices that not only can be used during hazard alert and notification but also during the response and recovery stages of the disaster management cycle. The measure introduced gives a set of guidelines for equipment manufacturers as well as a mechanism for planners to set a strategy when introducing terminal devices in to a Last-Mile warning system.
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    Last-Mile Hazard Warning System in Sri Lanka : performance of the ICT first responder training regime
    (LIRNEasia, Colombo, LK, 2007) Waidyanatha, Nuwan
    M=9+ earthquake in Sumatara, Indonesia, on December 26, 2004 00:59 GMT, triggered destructive tsunami waves, which greatly affected Indonesia, Sri Lanka, India, the Maldives, and Thailand. People were caught unawares as there was no warning system in place for tsunamis in the Indian Ocean. Overall it is estimated that more than 225,000 people, in the region, perished (Samarajiva, 2007 - [9]). Last-Mile Hazard Warning System (LM-HWS) is introducing Alerting and Notification to improve the “situational awareness” of all-hazards in 15,000 Sarvodaya embedded Communities in Sri Lanka. The Pilot phase established Last-Mile networking capability for 30 tsunami-affected communities with a heterogeneous deployment 5 ICTs: Addressable Satellite Radios for Emergency Alerting, GSM based Remote Alarm Devices, Mobile Phones, CDMA Nomadic Phones and Very Small Aperture Terminals. Lessons to-date suggests the basic internetworking arrangement at lower technical layers has proven to be reasonably robust and reliable but a key challenge remains in the upper layers of human capacity, application software, terminal devices and content provision (Waidyanatha et al, 2007 - [11], [12] and [13]). The Sri Lankan experience shows that the LM-HWS is neither efficient nor effective without competent human-capacity at the message-relays: Hazard-Information-Hub and Last-Mile Communities; a necessary condition to supplement the deficit of an end-to-end automated alerting system. Despite the training that was offered to the Hazard-Information-Hub Monitors and Community ICT Guardians; their performance was well bellow the 95% benchmark (see Fig 4). The project identifies that the Common Alerting Protocol intensive ICT based last-Mile alerting and notification system requires periodically repeated training and certification to improve the reliability and effectiveness of the human resources who are entrusted with mission critical LM-HWS processes.
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    Asian Health, Environmental and Allied Databases (AHEAD) CD-ROM
    (AHEAD, New Delhi, IN, 1997) Asian Health, Environmental and Allied Databases
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    Technical report on GIS digital data exchange in Nepal : a PAN - GIS database network infrastructure
    (Natural Resources Canada, GeoAccess Division, Nepean, ON, CA, 1997) Interobject Spatial Research, Inc.