Communicating landslide risks during the COVID-19 pandemic: A baseline study for PHIVOLCS-Dynaslope stakeholders

Dynaslope Project, a government-funded program implemented by the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS), develops and deploys an early warning system (EWS) for deep-seated landslides. It uses landslide sensor technology and community involvement in its EWS implementation in 50 sites all over the country. As the pandemic altered people’s modes of communication, it is important to understand how these changes relate to communicating landslide early warning information (LEWI). This research answered: How can the Dynaslope Project effectively communicate landslide risk during the COVID-19 pandemic? Specifically, it a) identified their preferred communication channels and tools during the pandemic, b) enumerated the stakeholders’ perceived participation and communication barriers, and c) measured the degree of trust of the stakeholders in the Project, the LEWI it released, and other key messages. This research was guided by the Actor-Network Theory and the concept of co-orientation which posited that, instead of a single entity defining a network or a system, it was the interactions between people, objects, and institutions that created a collective network and continuously negotiated a coherent understanding. The study employed a descriptive quantitative methodology. It used stratified random sampling to select the participants. Among the major findings include the stakeholders’ preference for offline communication like SMS and calls, the presence of communication and participation barriers including weak or no phone reception and limited access to up-to-date communication devices and the internet, and a high level of trust in the Dynaslope Project because it was implemented by a science-based national agency PHIVOLCS.

Global research partnerships ‘obliterated’ by UK aid cuts

Speed read More than 800 research projects will be affected by deep cuts to UK aid budget Thousands of scientists call on British government to revoke the plans Leading researchers say cuts undermine trusted partnerships Dramatic cuts to UK foreign aid budgets have left the future of hundreds of research projects in developing countries hanging in the balance and trusted partnerships severely undermined, say leading scientists. “The real concern has to be for our partners, who trusted in this process and the early career researchers who will lose their jobs, and the wasted progress on important development issues,” Jenni Barclay, professor of volcanology, University of East Anglia Nick Talbot, executive director of the Sainsbury Laboratory, said it was a “massive breach of trust” to cut ongoing projects of real impact for developing countries. Talbot, a world-renowned expert in molecular plant pathology, leads a project on rice blast, a disease that can devastate rice yields, particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa where disease-resistant varieties are lacking and control strategies limited.