MICRODIS (Integrated Health Social and Economic Impacts of Extreme Events: Evidence, Methods and Tools) is an integrated project, funded under the European Union’s sixth framework programme. It has 16 partners from 11 countries and is coordinated by the Université Catholique de Louvain, Belgium.
1. Greenwich University, U.K.
2. Northumbria University, U.K.
3. Voluntary Health Association of India, India
4. Delhi University, India
5. Tyoteryeyslaitos, FIOH, Finland
6. Jadavpur University, Kolkata
7. Hanoi School of Public, Health, Vietnam
8. University of Indonesia, Indonesia
9. Xavier University, Philippines
10. Heidelberg University, Germany
11. SWECO, Groner, Norway
12. CDRC foundation Inc. Philippines
13. Health Net, TPO, The Netherlands
14. Sorbonne University, France
15. Savoie University, France
16. FERURBAT, France
A Brief Insight into the Project
Recent natural disasters world over have highlighted the vulnerability of societies to extreme events. It is now an international acknowledgement that efforts to reduce disaster risks must be systematically integrated into policies, plans and programmes for sustainable development and poverty reduction. The MICRODIS project locates itself within this framework.
The goal of the Project is to strengthen prevention, mitigation and preparedness strategies in order to reduce the health, social and economic impact of any natural disaster on communities. The outputs will include an evidence-base on impacts, field methodologies and tools for data compilation, impact models, and integrated vulnerability assessments. It will also strengthen standardized data collection of extreme events and their impacts at local, regional and global levels. Keeping in view the goal and outcome of the project, the focus is strictly on the direct and proximate effects of extreme events, namely floods, earthquake and windstorms on economies, societal drivers and health.Based on this mandate, health social and economic impacts been identified as the key thematic areas of research.
This integrated project involves partners from Asia and Europe, including research and ground roots institutions. These regions have been selected based on the frequency of extreme events and their impact on affected communities. The Microdis project, short for ‘micro analysis of disasters’, will be taking a grass-roots look at what happens to communities when a disaster occurs, and what factors make them more or less vulnerable. Its purpose is to reduce the impact of disasters by “devising strategies for prevention, mitigation and preparedness”. The research, with a total budget of €4.5m, will compare four countries in Asia and four in Europe. This project will help both the European as well as the Asian countries to learn from each other’s enormous experience in dealing with disasters. The Microdis project aims to develop a common global approach, both to carrying out research and to helping communities cope.
