Community Anticipatory Mappings in Colombia
This project positions communities as central actors in the identification and prevention of disaster risks through the use of drones and participatory mapping to create open, accurate, relevant, and actionable data. The data produced will guide specific actions by governments, humanitarian actors, and communities, such as the design of evacuation plans, community-based disaster resilience planning, mitigation measures, and damage assessments, and will serve as a replicable model for other regions or countries facing similar challenges.
CONTEXT
Municipalities in the departments of Chocó, Amazonas, Cauca, La Guajira, Putumayo, Antioquia, and Meta require data to update and implement their Community Disaster Risk Management Plans. To this end, UNGRD has worked with Municipal Councils and other local bodies on the identification and basic mapping of risks to generate essential inputs for community-based risk management. Consequently, communities need to continue strengthening their internal capacities to implement Local Disaster Risk Management Plans, which include the use of open mapping tools as well as the collection of real-time data for threat monitoring. For decades, these municipalities have lacked access to geospatial data needed to plan for and manage natural hazards; therefore, addressing these gaps has been a priority for UNGRD’s Knowledge Management Subdirectorate, which has engaged actors such as HOT to help meet these needs.
APPROACH
HOT and local partners propose to complement UNGRD’s efforts with a methodological and digital package that combines the enhancement and updating of printed manuals and guides, training for the national unit and 10 selected communities based on priority and capacity, the provision of key equipment to enable future territorial monitoring by these communities, the organization of generated information through an online geovisualization platform (uMap), and the implementation of an early warning system through the development of a synchronized version of the tool (ChatMap Live).
OUTCOME AND IMPACT
- Adapt and enrich the community mapping methodological guide by incorporating updated sections with high technical and practical value.
- Expand the dissemination reach of the Guide to Strengthening Participation in Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and incorporate community maps as key inputs in the updating of territorial DRM instruments across 200 prioritized municipalities.
- Deliver field-based training to national trainers and municipal coordinators from at least 10 localities within the same region on the use of ChatMap, ChatMap Live, basic GIS, and community cartography, using a relevant set of open tools.
- Implement training processes for UNGRD staff in the management of these tools, with the aim of facilitating their replication in additional territories.
- Organize the information generated and develop a participatory geovisualization platform in uMap for the public consultation of community maps.
Photo credits: Unidad Nacional de Gestión de Riesgos, 2025
