According to a study by Colombia's Ministry of Environment in 2022, Colombia lost $285,777 million Colombian pesos (COP) (USD 60 million) annually due to flooding; and COP 67,469 million (USD 14 million) due to landslides on main roads.
For this reason, communities in Colombia, Chile and Cuba have partnered with researchers in the project. ADAPTO to amplify the impact of local solutions in order to transfer and replicate ideas to other contexts.
Adriana López Valencia, a full Professor of the School of Natural Resources and Environmental Engineering (EIDENAR) of the Faculty of Engineering of the Universidad del Valle (Univalle); researcher of the Habitat and Sustainable Development Research Group where she coordinates the Urban Intervention Laboratory (LIUR) line and collaborator of ADAPTO, explained that the project aims to combine initiatives and expertise from the academic sector, -such as the implementation of a sustainable urban drainage system (SUDS)- with community initiatives, such as a public park facing landslide and flooding problems.
"We seek to approach these two ways of approaching territorial management processes (from grassroots and institutional projects) to link the two types of initiatives, to strengthen them, articulate them and achieve improvement processes," said Professor López.
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Impact in Yumbo
ADAPTO developed 22 local initiatives in four locations: Carahatas in Cuba; Salgar in Colombia; Concepción in Chile; and Yumbo in Colombia.
They also had international collaborators from the Université de Montréal (Canada); McGill University Canada, the Universidad Central Marta Abreu de la Villas (Cuba) and the Universidad del Bío-Bío (Chile).
The project was funded with 57 billion COP (1.2 million USD) from Canada's International Development Research Center (IDRC) .
The industrial city of Yumbo, located in Valle del Cauca, Colombia, has grown significantly in the last 20 years, particularly in the Las Américas neighborhood. There, the informal inhabitants face high temperatures, downpours and pollution caused by the heavy industry factories located in the area.
"The work in Yumbo was focused on listening, understanding what the community stakes are, their strategies and see how we could strengthen them," said Professor Lopéz, adding that they helped in the technical aspect which has to do with water management at the sites and also in the formulation and management of public policies in the area.
"For example, what emerged was a proposal to retain a slope and collect rainwater and filter - this solution was implemented in a public park," said Professor Lopéz, adding that these initiatives can be replicated in other places autonomously by the people affected, based on the manuals that were made available for public download.
Within the project, they coined the term “Artefacts of Disaster Risk Reduction” for the set of rituals, practices, events and spaces that enable people in informal settings to work collaboratively, develop trusting relationships and reduce the multiple risks they face.
Read more about disaster prevention research: Univalle Researchers Are Mapping Floodplains To Minimize Risk To Life And Property
María Angélica Trejos, a resident of Las Américas and coordinator of a senior citizen group explained that, like others in the neighborhood, she has worked with Professor López for many years on initiatives there.
"Las Americas is a neighborhood that has hillside areas, and runoff causes flooding on the roadside and some landslides in the hillside area, as well as forest fires that affect the surrounding vegetation," Trejos said, adding that the construction of the "Parque del Poli" was instrumental in addressing these challenges.
"The idea of the Poli is a recreational space for the community of the sector, as well as to maintain a green space in the neighborhood where air pollution is high, to have plants and trees to refresh and decontaminate the environment," Trejos said.
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| Photo: ADAPTO project collaborators. Credit: Adriana López |
International collaborations
The Univalle team had collaborations and knowledge exchanges with other parts of Latin America.
Andrés Olivera, professor at the Faculty of Construction at the Universidad Central Marta Abreu de la Villas, in Santa Clara, Cuba led a similar project in Carahatas, Cuba.
Professor Olivera explained that although Cuba and Colombia have logical regional differences, there is a common denominator between small communities in the two countries.
"What unites us is climate change, that is, the manifestation of climate change in the habitat, in the inhabited context - it is an issue that we have it everywhere," Professor Olivera said, adding that this diversity of experiences can lead to learning and many opportunities.
"We have the opportunity to be able to exchange knowledge; to be able to make a transfer of experiences from one place to another; to also be able to teach the solutions we have, to also be able to contrast how different communities incorporate cultural, regional factors and traditions," Professor Olivera said.
"This whole project has given us a lot of richness," Professor Olivera said.
Professor Lopez said that in the future, those from Yumbo have the goal of building an 80 square meter urban garden in El Parque Poli.
Currently the project continues the management process with articulations with the local government of Yumbo and the professor hopes that the lessons from Yumbo can be shared with the world.
"For example, we want to see if this model can be replicated in informal communities in Quito, Ecuador, where we are exploring ways to transfer the filtering step module, for which we already have an industrial design registration in Univalle and are in the process of patenting," Professor López said.
If you would like to contact the researcher or learn more about the project, please write to the Communications Office, Faculty of Engineering: comunicaingenieria(at)correounivalle.edu.co.
Cover photo: Professor Adriana López of EIDENAR Credit: Alexander Bejarano (NCC-FI/Univalle)
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