Research project
Novel Approach for Vital Infrastructure Post Disaster (NOVA VIDA)
- Start date: 18 November 2019
- End date: 30 June 2022
- Funder: British Academy
- Value: £300,000
- Partners and collaborators: FLACSO, University of Leipzig
- Primary investigator: 01002080
- Co-investigators: Prof. Susan A Bernal
- Co-investigators (additional Faculties): Richard Romano
- External co-investigators: Dr Michael Janoschka, University of Leipzig; Dr Gustavo Duran, FLACSO
- Postgraduate students: Giulia Testori; Mirko Russo
This project evaluates post-disaster management cases in three cities in Ecuador, to create new bottom-up community-led frameworks for infrastructures development. It utilises innovative virtual reality scenarios to capture non-technical people responses to different built environments, and evaluate their practical implementation, considering indigenous construction practices as well as social and cultural preferences.
The level of acceptance of such solutions is paramount for long-term vulnerability reduction and the well-being of survivors (UN Sustainable Development Goal 3). This research seeks to transform how post-disaster infrastructure is conceived, following a multi-disciplinary approach combining social and computer sciences with architecture and materials engineering.