LINKS “Strengthening links between technologies and society for European disaster resilience” is a comprehensive study on disaster governance in Europe. In recent years, social media and crowdsourcing (SMCS) have been integrated into crisis management for improved information gathering and collaboration across European communities. The effectiveness of SMCS on European disaster resilience, however, remains unclear, due to the diversity among disaster risk perception and vulnerability. In this context, 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 social media and crowdsourcing (SMCS) in disasters.
This is done across three complementary knowledge domains:
- Disaster Risk Perception and Vulnerability (DRVP)
- Disaster Management Processes (DMP)
- Disaster Community Technologies (DCT)
Bringing together 15 partners and 2 associated partners across Europe (Belgium, Denmark, Germany, Italy, Luxembourg, the Netherlands) and beyond (Bosnia & Herzegovina, Japan), the project will develop a framework to understand, measure and govern SMCS for disasters.
The LINKS Framework consists of scientific methods, practical tools, and guidelines addressing researchers, practitioners, and policy makers. It will be developed and evaluated through five practitioner-driven European cases, representing different disaster scenarios (earthquake, flooding, industrial disaster, terrorism, drought), cutting across disaster management phases and diverse socioeconomic and cultural settings in four countries (Denmark, Germany, Italy, the Netherlands). Furthermore, LINKS sets out to create the LINKS Community, which brings together a wide variety of stakeholders, including first-responders, public authorities, civil society organisations, business communities, citizens, and researchers across Europe, dedicated to improving European disaster resilience through the use of SMCS.