This year, Sabrina Marx and Martin Hilljegerdes were teaching the block course “GIS 2” at the Heidelberg Center for Latin America (HCLA) in Santiago de Chile. The course is part of the international Master program “Governance of Risks and Resources”, offered by Heidelberg University in cooperation with Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile and Universidad de Chile. The collaborative Master program seeks to provide tools and profound knowledge regarding the management of natural resources and risks for the territorial planning process as well as the governance of related institutions.
During the “GIS 2″ course, conceptual discussions related to Volunteered Geographic Information (VGI), crowdsourcing and implicit knowledge were presented. In addition, tools for collecting and analyzing (user-generated) geoinformation were introduced and applied by the students for mitigation, response and recovery of natural hazards. Theoretical background information as well as the use of such tools during the sessions enabled the students to gain deeper understanding of factors influencing disaster risk management. In a final session with a disaster scenario, the students could apply them for a field campaign.
