A didactic project for landscape heritage mapping in post-disaster management

In recent years natural- and human-induced hazards have turned into disasters with rising frequency and intensity. These disasters pose threats to prominent cultural and natural heritage sites of the world and therefore require the intervention of skilled technicians and staff with specific scientific and cultural training. It is necessary to contribute toward reducing slow as well as catastrophic risks in the short and long terms through the training of staff for intervention aimed at emergency management and mitigation of the impact and development of solutions with the collaboration of professionals working in this area. This paper presents a project realized by a multidisciplinary team of engineers, architect, hydrologists, and geologists, carried out through the cooperation between Politecnico di Torino and the Information Technology for Humanitarian Assistance, Cooperation and Action Association (ITHACA). The main goal was to provide a first training in geospatial data acquisition and processing for students attending the bachelor and master degree in architecture and engineering in order to start up a team of “volunteer mappers.” Indeed, the project is aimed at documenting the environmental and built heritage subject to disaster; the purpose is to improve the capabilities of the actors involved in the activities connected in geospatial data collection, integration, and sharing using modern geomatic methodology and techniques (terrestrial and aerial LiDAR, close-range and aerial photogrammetry, topographic and Global Navigation Satellite System (GNSS) instruments, etc.). All the acquired data and processing results have been implemented in a WebGIS platform to share information with local authorities and organizations, such as Protezione Civile (Italian Civil Protection). The proposed area for testing the training activities is the village of Vernazza inside the Cinque Terre National Park in Liguria (Italy). The park is registered on the World Heritage list since 1997. The area was affected by an important flood on 25 October 2011.