Innovative Applications of Natural Language Processing and Digital Media in Theatre and Performing Arts

The objective of our research is to investigate new digital techniques and tools, offering the audience innovative, attractive, enhanced and accessible experiences. The project focuses on performing arts, particularly theatre, aiming at designing, implementing, experimenting and evaluating technologies and tools that expand the semiotic code of a performance by offering new opportunities and aesthetic means in stage art and by introducing parallel accessible narrative flows. In our novel paradigm, modern technologies emphasize the stage elements providing a multilevel, intense and immersive theatrical experience. Moreover, lighting, video projections, audio clips and digital characters are incorporated, bringing unique aesthetic features. We also attempt to remove sensory and language barriers faced by some audiences. Accessibility features consist of subtitles, sign language and audio description. The project emphasises on natural language processing technologies, embedded communication and multimodal interaction to monitor automatically the time flow of a performance. Based on this, pre-designed and directed stage elements are being mapped to appropriate parts of the script and activated automatically by using the virtual "world" and appropriate sensors, while accessibility flows are dynamically synchronized with the stage action. The tools above are currently adapted within two experimental theatrical plays for validation purposes. This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 4.0 International License.</p

Hydro-meteorological risk assessment methods and management by nature-based solutions

Hydro-meteorological risk (HMR) management involves a range of methods, such as monitoring of uncertain climate, planning and prevention by technical countermeasures, risk assessment, preparedness for risk by early-warnings, spreading knowledge and awareness, response and recovery. To execute HMR management by risk assessment, many models and tools, ranging from conceptual to sophisticated/numerical methods are currently in use. However, there is still a gap in systematically classifying and documenting them in the field of disaster risk management. This paper discusses various methods used for HMR assessment and its management via potential nature-based solutions (NBS), which are actually lessons learnt from nature. We focused on three hydro-meteorological hazards (HMHs), floods, droughts and heatwaves, and their management by relevant NBS. Different methodologies related to the chosen HMHs are considered with respect to exposure, vulnerability and adaptation interaction of the elements at risk. Two widely used methods for flood risk assessment are fuzzy logic (e.g. fuzzy analytic hierarchy process) and probabilistic methodology (e.g. univariate and multivariate probability distributions). Different kinds of indices have been described in the literature to define drought risk, depending upon the type of drought and the purpose of evaluation. For heatwave risk estimation, mapping of the vulnerable property and population-based on geographical information system is a widely used methodology in addition to a number of computational, mathematical and statistical methods, such as principal component analysis, extreme value theorem, functional data analysis, the Ornstein–Uhlenbeck process and meta-analysis. NBS (blue, green and hybrid infrastructures) are promoted for HMR management. For example, marshes and wetlands in place of dams for flood and drought risk reduction, and green infrastructure for urban cooling and combating heatwaves, are potential NBS. More research is needed into risk assessment and management through NBS, to enhance its wider significance for sustainable living, building adaptations and resilience

Public acceptance of nature-based solutions for natural hazard risk reduction: survey findings from three study sites in europe

Climate change is one factor increasing the risk of hydro-meteorological hazards globally. The use of nature-based solutions (NbS), and more specifically ecosystem-based disaster risk reduction measures (Eco-DRR), has become a popular response for risk reduction that also provides highly-valued co-benefits. Public acceptance is of particular importance for NbS since they often rely on local collaborative implementation, management, and monitoring, as well as long-term protection against competing societal interests. Although public engagement is a common goal of NbS projects, it is rarely carried out with a sufficient understanding of the (de)motivating factors tied to public perceptions. Successful collaboration demands consideration of societal attitudes and values in relation to risk, nature, and place. However, existing research does not sufficiently explore these themes together, their interactions, and their implications for the public acceptance of NbS. This may lead to misaligned public expectations and failed participatory initiatives, while jeopardizing the success of NbS projects and their continued funding and uptake. We conducted citizen surveys within local NbS “host” communities to determine the degree of pro-NbS attitudes and behavior, associated variables, and how these may be leveraged to increase acceptance. We compared results across sites, relying primarily on correlations and regression models along with survey comments and expert knowledge. Three distinct rural NbS being implemented within the OPERANDUM project aim to reduce risk from (socio-)natural hazards in Scotland (landslides and coastal erosion; n = 66 respondents), Finland (eutrophication and algal blooms; n = 204) and Greece (river flooding and water scarcity; n = 84). Our research thus centers on rural NbS for risk reduction within a large EU project. Trust in implementers is a consistent factor for defining attitudes towards the NbS across the sites, and attitudes are strongly associated with respondents’ commitment to nature and behavioral acceptance (i.e., willingness to engage). Behaviorial acceptance is most consistently predicted by connectedness to place and the extent of expected future impacts. Skepticism of NbS effectiveness leads to high public demand for relevant evidence. To increase public acceptance, we recommend greater framing of NbS in relation to place-based values as well as demonstration of the effectiveness of NbS for risk reduction. However, distinct hazard types, proposed NbS, and historical characteristics must be considered for developing strategies aimed at increasing acceptance. An understanding of these characteristics and their interactions leads to evidence-based recommendations for our study sites and for successful NbS deployment in Europe and beyond

A Conceptual Framework for Vulnerability and Risk Assessment in the Context of Nature-Based Solutions to Hydro-Meteorological Risks

Various frameworks for vulnerability and risk assessment of social-ecological systems (SES) to natural hazards have been developed addressing different contexts. However, none were specifically developed in the context of implementing nature-based solutions (NBS) to hydro-meteorological risks. Since the basic concepts and principles of NBS are mainly focused on ensuring balance between ecological and social benefits, the entire vulnerability and risk assessment process should focus equally on various social and ecological components of a location where an NBS would be implemented. As a part of the OPEn-air laboRAtories for Nature baseD solUtions to Manage hydro-meteo risks (OPERANDUM) project, this research proposes a conceptual framework for vulnerability and risk assessment in the context of NBS to hydro-meteorological risks. This conceptual framework is developed mainly considering the major components of the existing Delta-SES risk assessment framework (Sebesvari et al. 2016) and other similar frameworks proposed in recent studies, as well as the proposed principles for NBS endorsed by International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN). The major components of the framework include: (i) the exposure of SES to multiple hydro-meteorological hazards (e.g., flood, drought); (ii) vulnerability of SES that consists of ecosystem susceptibility, social susceptibility, ecosystem robustness, and coping and adaptive capacity of the social system; (iii) risks in the NBS project site determined by the combination of hazard exposure and vulnerability; and (iv) the impacts of hydro-meteorological hazards on the SES surrounding or within the NBS project site. While the basic space of risk assessment would be the NBS project site (usually at the local level within sub-catchments) with specific SES characteristics, this framework also reflects the interrelationships between ecosystem and social system as well as the effects of multiple hazards and risks at local up to the global scales. The framework also considers the changes over time that would capture the maturation time lag of the ecological components of an NBS, as well as the sustainability of the system with the intervention of NBS and other risk reduction measures. An indicator-based risk assessment approach can be used to operationalize the framework. To facilitate that, an indicator library has been developed comprising of indicators for different exposure and vulnerability components of the framework. The proposed framework can be applicable to any geographical conditions where an NBS project is to be implemented to reduce hydro-meteorological risks. The framework can also be tailored for other natural hazards (e.g. geological hazards like earthquake) and anthropogenic hazards (e.g. pollution). We will explain the conceptualisation process of the framework and of the indicator library and how these will be tested within the OPERANDUM project in the context of NBS implementation

Public Acceptance of Nature-based Solutions (NbS): a Framework for Successful NbS and its Application in Three European Case Studies

Nature-based solutions (NbS) are increasingly recognized as sustainable approaches to address socio-environmental challenges. Disaster risk reduction (DRR) has benefited by increasingly moving away from purely ‘grey’ infrastructure measures towards NbS, which can better provide cultural, aesthetic, and recreational co-benefits that are highly valued among European citizens. Public acceptance is of particular importance for NbS since they often rely on collaborative implementation, management, and monitoring, as well as protection against competing land uses. Although public engagement is a common goal of NbS projects and found in the IUCN’s core principles of NbS, outreach efforts are rarely based on a sufficient understanding of the (de)motivating factors tied to public perceptions. As a first step, we conducted a systematic literature review to examine how unique NbS characteristics relate to public acceptance through a comparison with grey measures. We identified influential acceptance factors related to individuals, society, and DRR measures. Based on the review, we introduce the PA-NbS framework as a starting point for the systematic consideration, design, and testing of strategies for increasing public acceptance. The PA-NbS highlights the roles of trust, competing interests, and effectiveness of NbS, as well as public perceptions of risk, nature and place. A lack of consideration of these factors may lead to misaligned public expectations and failed participatory initiatives, while jeopardizing the success of NbS projects. Therefore, as a second step, we conducted citizen surveys within three NbS host communities. Distinct NbS being implemented within the OPERANDUM project aim to reduce risk from (socio-)natural hazards in Scotland (landslides and coastal erosion), Finland (eutrophication and algal blooms) and Greece (river flooding). Associations of factors related to risk, nature, and place perceptions with pro-NbS attitudes and behavior were tested to determine how these may be leveraged to increase acceptance. We find that trust is a consistent factor for defining attitudes towards the NbS across the sites. Attitudes are strongly associated with respondents’ commitment to nature and concern for risk, while some skepticism of NbS effectiveness leads to high public demand for relevant evidence. Risk perception and particularly the potential for future impacts are associated with behavioural acceptance (i.e. willingness to engage), along with responsibility for nature and connectedness to place. Current data collection efforts to demonstrate NbS effectiveness for risk reduction are well-positioned to increase public acceptance in Europe. However, recognizing the differences among segments of the public within each site along with distinct hazard types, proposed NbS, and historical, social, and cultural characteristics across the sites is crucial for designing strategies that increase acceptance. An overview of these dynamics leads to evidence-based recommendations for the case-study sites and for successful NbS in Europe

An overview of monitoring methods for assessing the performance of nature-based solutions against natural hazards

To bring to fruition the capability of nature-based solutions (NBS) in mitigating hydro-meteorological risks (HMRs) and facilitate their widespread uptake require a consolidated knowledge-base related to their monitoring methods, efficiency, functioning and the ecosystem services they provide. We attempt to fill this knowledge gap by reviewing and compiling the existing scientific literature on methods, including ground-based measurements (e.g. gauging stations, wireless sensor network) and remote sensing observations (e.g. from topographic LiDAR, multispectral and radar sensors) that have been used and/or can be relevant to monitor the performance of NBS against five HMRs: floods, droughts, heatwaves, landslides, and storm surges and coastal erosion. These can allow the mapping of the risks and impacts of the specific hydro-meteorological events. We found that the selection and application of monitoring methods mostly rely on the particular NBS being monitored, resource availability (e.g. time, budget, space) and type of HMRs. No standalone method currently exists that can allow monitoring the performance of NBS in its broadest view. However, equipments, tools and technologies developed for other purposes, such as for ground-based measurements and atmospheric observations, can be applied to accurately monitor the performance of NBS to mitigate HMRs. We also focused on the capabilities of passive and active remote sensing, pointing out their associated opportunities and difficulties for NBS monitoring application. We conclude that the advancement in airborne and satellite-based remote sensing technology has signified a leap in the systematic monitoring of NBS performance, as well as provided a robust way for the spatial and temporal comparison of NBS intervention versus its absence. This improved performance measurement can support the evaluation of existing uncertainty and scepticism in selecting NBS over the artificially built concrete structures or grey approaches by addressing the questions of performance precariousness. Remote sensing technical developments, however, take time to shift toward a state of operational readiness for monitoring the progress of NBS in place (e.g. green NBS growth rate, their changes and effectiveness through time). More research is required to develop a holistic approach, which could routinely and continually monitor the performance of NBS over a large scale of intervention. This performance evaluation could increase the ecological and socio-economic benefits of NBS, and also create high levels of their acceptance and confidence by overcoming potential scepticism of NBS implementations

Nature-based solutions efficiency evaluation against natural hazards: modelling methods, advantages and limitations

Nature-based solutions (NBS) for hydro-meteorological risks (HMRs) reduction and management are becoming increasingly popular, but challenges such as the lack of well-recognised standard methodologies to evaluate their performance and upscale their implementation remain. We systematically evaluate the current state-of-the art on the models and tools that are utilised for the optimum allocation, design and efficiency evaluation of NBS for five HMRs (flooding, droughts, heatwaves, landslides, and storm surges and coastal erosion). We found that methods to assess the complex issue of NBS efficiency and cost-benefits analysis are still in the development stage and they have only been implemented through the methodologies developed for other purposes such as fluid dynamics models in micro and catchment scale contexts. Of the reviewed numerical models and tools MIKE-SHE, SWMM (for floods), ParFlow-TREES, ACRU, SIMGRO (for droughts), WRF, ENVI-met (for heatwaves), FUNWAVE-TVD, BROOK90 (for landslides), TELEMAC and ADCIRC (for storm surges) are more flexible to evaluate the performance and effectiveness of specific NBS such as wetlands, ponds, trees, parks, grass, green roof/walls, tree roots, vegetations, coral reefs, mangroves, sea grasses, oyster reefs, sea salt marshes, sandy beaches and dunes. We conclude that the models and tools that are capable of assessing the multiple benefits, particularly the performance and cost-effectiveness of NBS for HMR reduction and management are not readily available. Thus, our synthesis of modelling methods can facilitate their selection that can maximise opportunities and refute the current political hesitation of NBS deployment compared with grey solutions for HMR management but also for the provision of a wide range of social and economic co-benefits. However, there is still a need for bespoke modelling tools that can holistically assess the various components of NBS from an HMR reduction and management perspective. Such tools can facilitate impact assessment modelling under different NBS scenarios to build a solid evidence base for upscaling and replicating the implementation of NBS

Towards an operationalisation of nature-based solutions for natural hazards

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are being promoted as adaptive measures against predicted increasing hydrometeorological hazards (HMHs), such as heatwaves and floods which have already caused significant loss of life and economic damage across the globe. However, the underpinning factors such as policy framework, end-users' interests and participation for NBS design and operationalisation are yet to be established. We discuss the operationalisation and implementation processes of NBS by means of a novel concept of Open-Air Laboratories (OAL) for its wider acceptance. The design and implementation of environmentally, economically, technically and socio-culturally sustainable NBS require inter- and transdisciplinary approaches which could be achieved by fostering co-creation processes by engaging stakeholders across various sectors and levels, inspiring more effective use of skills, diverse knowledge, manpower and resources, and connecting and harmonising the adaptation aims. The OAL serves as a benchmark for NBS upscaling, replication and exploitation in policy-making process through monitoring by field measurement, evaluation by key performance indicators and building solid evidence on their short- and long-term multiple benefits in different climatic, environmental and socio-economic conditions, thereby alleviating the challenges of political resistance, financial barriers and lack of knowledge. We conclude that holistic management of HMHs by effective use of NBS can be achieved with standard compliant data for replicating and monitoring NBS in OALs, knowledge about policy silos and interaction between research communities and end-users. Further research is needed for multi-risk analysis of HMHs and inclusion of NBS into policy frameworks, adaptable at local, regional and national scales leading to modification in the prevalent guidelines related to HMHs. The findings of this work can be used for developing synergies between current policy frameworks, scientific research and practical implementation of NBS in Europe and beyond for its wider acceptance

A review of hydro-meteorological hazard, vulnerability, and risk assessment frameworks and indicators in the context of nature-based solutions

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are increasingly being implemented as suitable approaches for reducing vulnerability and risk of social-ecological systems (SES) to hydro-meteorological hazards. Understanding vulnerability and risk of SES is crucial in order to design and implement NBS projects appropriately. A systematic literature review was carried out to examine the suitability of, or gaps in, existing frameworks for vulnerability and risk assessment of SES to hydro-meteorological hazards. The review confirms that very few frameworks have been developed in the context of NBS. Most of the frameworks have emphasised social systems over ecological systems. Furthermore, they have not explicitly considered the temporal dimension of risk reduction measures. The study proposes an indicator-based vulnerability and risk assessment framework in the context of NBS (VR-NBS) that addresses both the above limitations and considers established NBS principles. The framework aims to allow for a better consideration of the multiple benefits afforded by NBS and which impact all the dimensions of risk. A list of 135 indicators is identified through literature review and surveys in NBS project sites. This list is composed of indicators representing the social sub-system (61% of total indicators) and the ecological sub-system (39% of total indicators). The list will act as a reference indicator library in the context of NBS projects and will be regularly updated as lessons are learnt. While the proposed VR-NBS framework is developed considering hydro-meteorological hazards and NBS, it can be adapted for other natural hazards and different types of risk reduction measures