The flood risk management workflow
This methodology aims to support UNHCR field staff, partners, and other practitioners identifying flood hazard, quantifying risk and mitigating the impact of floods in humanitarian settlements.
The workflow is widely using the open-source software qGIS to produce maps and other useful information, allowing to define a strategy for limiting the impact of floods on a defined site. Each step is completed with tools, guidance documents and supported by tutorials. Click on the buttons below to discover a schematic explanation of the flood risk workflow and a user guide detailing each step. The learning section guides you through the different tutorials related to each step.
Compendium of Flood Risk Mitigation
This compendium supports flood risk mitigation humanitarian settlements by presenting adequate flood risk mitigation measures alongside technical drawings and good practices.
It has been developed based on a systematic literature review alongside the consultation of flood risk and humanitarian experts. It is guided by the concept of integrated risk management, which considers the preparation for, response to, and recovery from natural hazards. The introduced measures mainly focus on the phases before a flood event, either caused by heavy rainfall (pluvial floods) or the overflow of a waterbody (riverine floods).
Combining various complementing measures is encouraged to ensure the most effective risk mitigation.
Risk Mitigation Strategy GIS Tool
The project includes an easy-to-use GIS tool (GIS is short for «Geographic Information System»). The tool aims to create an operational and practical flood risk mitigation strategy for refugee settlements, combining local and global data.
The extension (Add-In) is developed for the open-source software qGIS. It supports field staff in mapping and analyzing flood risk and vulnerable assets. Additionally, the tool helps identify mitigation measures of the compendium adapted to the context and operational priorities. This is a beta version and we are releasing a final version soon.
Local Data Collection Guide
The risk mitigation strategy GIS Tool works with global datasets and the presented mitigation measures. However, local knowledge and data can be integrated, which is necessary for increased accuracy and verification of the global data and the integrated risk management approach.
Hence, we provide guidance on collecting existing and new local information on flood hazards, vulnerabilities, and mitigation measures. The guide for local data collection also includes information on how to conduct interviews and participatory mapping workshops in the framework of this project. We are currently working on providing more support for local data collection. This document will be updated frequently.
Context
At the end of 2022, 108.4 million people worldwide were forcibly displaced as a result of persecution, conflict, violence, human rights violations and events seriously disturbing public order. New and ongoing conflicts continue to force people to flee. At the same time, the intensity and frequency of natural hazards, including flood events, are increasing due to climate change.
Refugee settlements face a particular risk from such disruptive events due to their precarious built environment, socio-economic situation, and often remote and/or flood-exposed locations. Managing the risk of hazards becomes essential to ensure sustainable and safe settlements to protect refugees as well as their hosting communities that may be equally impacted.
Team
The flood risk management workflow has been developed through the Geneva Technical Hub (GTH) as a collaboration between UN refugee Agency (UNHCR), the Swiss Agency for Development and Cooperation (SDC) and ETH Zurich. The compendium has been developed at the research group Spatial Development and Urban Policy (SPUR) and its Humanitarian Planning Hub at ETH Zurich.
Learning Section
The learning section provides tutorials, videos and manuals to guide users through the application of the Flood Risk Management Workflow. Each of the steps is completed by specific tutorials and a preliminary section includes general project explanations. While the workflow has been developed for users with medium GIS expertise, users without previous GIS knowledge should first take the “qGIS basic mapping crash course” proposed in the preliminary section.