Collaborative Research: Planning: CHIRRP: Understanding Risk Propagation of Landslide-Community System for Community-Centric Risk Assessment and Mitigation

Landslides are a major geo-hazard causing significant casualties, infrastructure damage, and economic losses worldwide. With the increasing frequency of extreme weather events, many communities are facing increasing risk of landslides. However, many rural, isolated, and small communities (RISC) communities lack the knowledge and tools to prepare for and mitigate landslide impacts.

This project seeks to establish robust community partnerships, engage community members through collaborative workshops and focus groups to identify their needs and priorities related to landslide risks, co-produce research questions and solutions. These foundational efforts are crucial for creating a comprehensive, community-driven research initiative that leverages advanced earth system science to enhance resilience and provide actionable solutions for mitigating landslide hazards.

This project will help enhance community resilience in areas disproportionately affected by landslide hazards. It will also provide valuable research and educational opportunities for local citizen scientists from underrepresented backgrounds for building capacity in the community.

This project aims to address significant knowledge gaps in landslide risk propagation, perception, communication, and mitigation for underserved rural, isolated, and small communities. This project will engage RISC communities in Southwestern Puerto Rico and establish robust community partnerships. The primary objectives of this project are: (1) Establish new collaborations with essential federal and local partners.

These partnerships will facilitate access to critical data, resources, and local knowledge to support coordinated responses to landslide hazards. (2) Co-produce research questions and solutions. This project will engage community members through surveys, interviews, and collaborative workshops, and focus groups to identify their needs and priorities related to landslide risks, co-produce research questions and actionable solutions.

This participatory approach will ensure that the research questions and solutions developed are grounded in real-world experiences and directly address community concerns. (3) Establish feedback channels and protocols to continuously gather input from stakeholders and community members. By building the necessary connections to confront landslide hazards and build resilient communities, this project will lay the foundation to advance the scientific understanding of risk propagation of landslide-community systems and support effective community-centric risk mitigation strategies customized to the local social and cultural context.

The project results are expected to inform the adaptation and application in other regions facing similar hazards, amplifying its impact beyond Puerto Rico.

This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.