A pilot study for the Waterproofing Data project took place in Brazil (Rio Branco and São Paulo) last month. Carolin Klonner from the GIScience team and researchers from the UK and Brazil focused on testing the developed methods in the specific setting of the study areas and on exploring the flood mitigation measures taken by local authorities and flood-affected citizens. Students of local schools as well as people living in the area took part in the workshops with several different tasks. Students learned how to digitally map their surrounding area, and local citizens shared their experiences of flood events in memory stories, interviews as well as participatory mapping activities. During walks through the flood prone areas, the researchers were able to identify flood protection measures of the people living in these areas. Moreover, the difficult living conditions for these people became apparent. Overall, it was a very successful trip during which a lot of valuable feedback for adapting the methods was gained, and future steps of the project were discussed among the interdisciplinary and international research team.
