AN INFORMATION SYSTEM DESIGN FRAMEWORK FOR ENVIRONMENTAL RISK AND EMERGENCY MANAGEMENT

Monitoring environmental risks for public safety applications (i.e. fire prediction, landslides forecasting, sea/river monitoring, etc.) requires an accurate model of involved phenomenological aspects, entities, actors, stakeholders as well as their articulated interactions. Due to the multidisciplinary nature of such scenarios several models are typically developed to address both concerns and information needs of heterogeneous skilled actors (e.g. geologists, geophysicists, chemists, managers, etc.), generally resulting in a fragmented process design. This paper goes in the opposite direction, i.e., we introduce a framework for designing collaborative processes for environmental risk and emergency management processes at multiple levels of detail. More specifically, through the use of UML models we provide a detailed description of ”the system of systems” articulated scenario which proves to be effective in designing risk evaluation and assessment processes. The application case is that of the rock face collapse forecasting in the alps, where the hydrogeological risk affects urban areas implemented into a multidisciplinary research project, namely PROMETEO, that focused on civil and public protection. As further work we aim to describe the framework as an extension to the Unified Modeling Language (UML)

Non è solo questione di cultura. Fattori di ostacolo e risorsa nella relazione famiglia-scuola dell’infanzia

Family-school collaboration is a crucial element in achieving optimum scholastic experience on the part of pupils. Such collaboration is often described in somewhat reductive binary collaboration/non-collaboration terms. However, the significant presence of families from different cultural backgrounds in Italy since the 1990s demonstrates how multiple styles of relationships with schools can generate effective forms of collaboration. This paper analysed the case of family-school collaboration in infant schools in Milan, a privileged location where such dynamics can be investigated. Based on intercultural education approach and on in-depth interviews to infant school teachers and parents of pupils coming from different backgrounds, this research investigated different obstacles and resources that influence family-school relations. Results suggest that instead of an approach based just on cultural aspects, socio-economic, structural and interpersonal factors should be considered when approaching family-school relationship

SocialEMIS: Improving Emergency Preparedness through Collaboration

The definition of the contingency plan during the preparedness phase holds a crucial role in emergency management. A proper emergency response, indeed, requires the implementation of a contingency plan that can be accurate only if different people with different skills are involved. The goal of this paper is to introduce SocialEMIS, a first prototype of a tool that supports the collaborative definition of contingency plans. Although the current implementation is now focused on the role of the emergency operators, the accuracy of the plan will also take advantage of information coming from the citizens in future releases. Moreover, the contingency plans defined with SocialEMIS represent a knowledge base for defining other contingency plans

Interface between public and private treatment of public goods

Background paper prepared for the Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction 2013. UNISDR The United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reductio