Tomorrow's Quito

The two Review and Learning Workshops of the Quito Hub took place on the 4th and 11th September 2020. These workshops aimed at analysing and discussing the challenges and opportunities of our work until now, and at learning relevant lessons to guide our future work.

During Workshop 1, the Quito Hub members presented their research progress across themes and subthemes. They revealed the interdisciplinary and collaborative nature of this research, the connections established between the humanities, social, and physical sciences, and the strong interactions and linkages between the Quito Hub members from Ecuador and the UK.

Workshop 2 aimed at discussing three important topics for the Quito Hub, including our impact agenda in relation to the Theory of Change (TOC), the role of interdisciplinarity in our work, and the equitable partnerships within and outside the Quito Hub. Different relevant points for the Quito Hub emerged from the discussion, such as: the importance of reflexivity; the ethical dilemma and the political nature of our research; the importance of co-produced knowledge; the challenges and opportunities of interdisciplinarity; the impacts of Covid-19 pandemic on our work and research participants; the opportunities of the TOC to guide our research; the role of curiosity and openness; the challenges of formal and informal communication; the role of hierarchies and power in our interactions; the need to make visible the hidden work; and the need to talk about gender.

From these points, we have identified different forms of actionable learning that can support to Quito Hub moving forward its research agenda, as outlined in the report.

El Centro Ciudades del Mañana (Tomorrow’s Cities), conformado por la Escuela Politécnica Nacional, la Universidad San Francisco de Quito, la Facultad Latinoamericana de Ciencias Sociales Flacso-Ecuador, y de varias universidades y centros de investigación del Reino Unido, tiene como objetivo proporcionar apoyo científico para reducir el riesgo de desastres por amenazas naturales de las comunidades con vulnerabilidades económicas y sociales. Para ello, se plantea el fortalecimiento de capacidades a través de la ciencia, la historia y el arte, buscando impulsar un accionar participativo de los distintos actores relacionados a la gestión territorial, contribuyendo así a un adecuado desarrollo sostenible.

En Ecuador, después del terremoto de abril de 2016, que causó más de 700 pérdidas humanas y provocó la destrucción de grandes áreas urbanas e infraestructura de interés nacional, se ha prestado una especial atención a la capacidad de adaptarse a las condiciones cambiantes (resiliencia) en las ciudades. Las ciudades resilientes están mejor posicionadas para proteger y mejorar la vida de las personas, asegurar capacidades de desarrollo, fomentar un entorno seguro de inversión e impulsar un cambio positivo entre sus habitantes.

Con el propósito que Quito sea más resiliente, es necesario planificar y responder de forma adecuada a múltiples amenazas. Convertir a Quito en una ciudad resiliente es un reto importante para los tomadores de decisión y la sociedad en general. Por ello, el Centro Ciudades del Mañana, en función de su objetivo principal ha desarrollado simultáneamente en Katmandú, Nairobi y Estambul, un Ambiente para la Toma de Decisiones (DSE)[1], que en el caso de Quito se implementa mediante la construcción, conformación y operación de un “Laboratorio urbano para la reducción del riesgo de desastres”.

[1] Para más información acerca del Ambiente para la toma de decisiones (DSE) revisar: https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/pii/S2212420921001242?via%3Dihub

The inhabitants of Latacunga living in the surrounding of the Cotopaxi volcano (Ecuador) are exposed to several hazards and related disasters. After the last 2015 volcanic eruption, it became evident once again how important it is for the exposed population to understand their own social, physical, and systemic vulnerability. Effective risk communication is essential before the occurrence of a volcanic crisis. This study integrates quantitative risk and semi-quantitative social risk perceptions, aiming for risk-informed communities. We present the use of the RIESGOS demonstrator for interactive exploration and visualisation of risk scenarios. The development of this demonstrator through an iterative process with the local experts and potential end-users increases both the quality of the technical tool as well as its practical applicability. Moreover, the community risk perception in a focused area was investigated through online and field surveys. Geo-located interviews are used to map the social perception of volcanic risk factors. Scenario-based outcomes from quantitative risk assessment obtained by the RIESGOS demonstrator are compared with the semi-quantitative risk perceptions. We have found that further efforts ar

The emergence of Covid-19 in Ecuador: An approach from disaster risk management and its relation with the Tomorrow’s Cities Hub

In Ecuador different actions have been seen in relation to the health emergency caused by Covid-19. This article analyses the impact of the pandemic and proposes what lessons can be learned and how they can be implemented into the country’s disaster risk reduction planning.