Research Project

Medellín, Colombia

Inform@Risk
Strengthening the resilience of informal settlements against landslide hazards by linking early warning systems, web technologies and landscape planning in participatory processes - a case study  

2019-2022

The project Inform@Risk, funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research (BMBF), developed innovative strategies to enhance the resilience of informal settlements against landslide hazards in the Andean region. In this area, the number of people at risk is continuously increasing due to uncontrolled urbanization and the effects of climate change. Relocation efforts overwhelm municipalities and administrations with limited financial resources. Early warning systems offer an effective alternative; however, their application in developing countries has been limited by restricted accuracy and high costs. Inform@Risk pursued the development of a cost-effective and location-specific early warning and evacuation system, specifically tailored to the complex spatial and social conditions of informal settlements.

The German team, which included expertise in geotechnics, geomatics, and landscape architecture, collaborated for four years with a Colombian team of experts in disaster management (DAGRD), urban planners (urbam, EAFIT), social workers, citizen initiatives, and affected residents of the city of Medellín to develop an initial prototype of a landslide early warning system. The pilot project was conducted in a landslide-prone, informally settled area on the outskirts of Medellín. The specific task of landscape architecture was to integrate the technical elements socially and spatially into the informal settlement. The pilot project concluded with a one-year regulatory testing phase in 2023.

Despite close collaboration with the city of Medellín (with over 200 coordination meetings), administrative and legal obstacles ultimately prevented the prototype's sensor technology from being adopted by the responsible authorities. The city of Medellín is now in the process of developing its pilot projects for sensor technology to monitor landslide-prone slopes and to involve citizens more actively. In the meantime, the sensor technology developed in the research project has now proven effective for monitoring ground movements in Germany and other European countries.

For more information, please visit our Instagram account @informatrisk or check out the publication:

Werthmann, C., Sapena, M., Kühnl, M., Singer, J., Garcia, C., Breuninger, T., Gamperl, M., Menschik, B., Schäfer, H., Schröck, S., Seiler, L., Thuro, K., and Taubenböck, H.: Insights into the development of a landslide early warning system prototype in an informal settlement: the case of Bello Oriente in Medellín, Colombia, Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 24, 1843–1870, doi.org/10.5194/nhess-24-1843-2024, 2024.

Project coordination: Prof. Christian Werthmann, Dr. Carolina Garcia Londoño, Dr.-Ing. Heike Schäfer, MSc. Lisa Seiler, Institute of Landscape Architecture, Leibniz University of Hannover

German partners: Prof. Dr.Kurosch Thuro, Chair of Engineering Geology/ Technical University Munich, Prof.  Dr. Wolfgang Dorner, Technology Campus Freyung/ Technical University Deggendorf, Prof. Dr. Hannes Taubenböck, German Remote Sensing Data Center/ DLR, Dr. John Singer, AlpGeorisk/ Unterschleißheim, Dr. Klaus Martin, SLU/ Munich

Colombian partners: Prof. Alejandro Echeverri, MSc. Isabel Basombrio, EAFIT/ Urbam, City of Medellín, Dr. Laura Duarte, DAGRD, Sociedad Colombiano Geologico, Comvivamos, Fundación Paloma, residents of Bello Oriente

Funded by BMBF, from 2019 to 2022, funding code 03G0883A-F.