Social media and crowdsourcing (SMCS) are increasingly being used in disaster risk management for improved information gathering and collaboration across European communities. The effectiveness of SMCS on European disaster resilience, however, remains unclear owing to the social, institutional and technological diversity across Europe. The challenge faced by first responders, public authorities, citizens and other relevant stakeholders, is the absence of collective knowledge for effectively understanding and applying social media and crowdsourcing for improved disaster resilience under diverse conditions.
The overall objective of LINKS is to strengthen links between technologies and society for improved European disaster resilience, by producing sustainable advanced learning on the use of SMCS in disasters. We define sustainable advanced learning as a maintainable and evolving collection of knowledge produced for and by relevant stakeholders.
From this point of departure, LINKS set out to achieve four core objectives:
O1: Produce sustainable advanced learning on SMCS in disasters.
O2: Achieve a consolidated understanding of SMCS in disasters.
O3: Govern the diversity around SMCS in disasters.
O4: Bring multidisciplinary stakeholders together around the uses of SMCS in disasters.
To achieve these objectives, LINKS conducted research involving local partners and participants in five European cases. The cases represent different hazard scenarios (earthquakes, flooding, industrial hazards, terrorism, drought) in four countries (Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands). The research fed into the project’s main outputs:
1) The LINKS Framework consisting of useful products for different stakeholders.
2) The LINKS Community, consisting of multidisciplinary stakeholders, dedicated to improving European disaster resilience through the use of SMCS.
3) The LINKS Community Center, the online interface for stakeholders within the LINKS Community to access and contribute knowledge to the LINKS Framework.
