EU Focus on Africa - "Participatory GIS combined with Satellite imagery is reaping dividends in community efforts to mitigate natural disasters"

COOPI, Z_GIS, UN SPIDER/SAIO/2011. Article published on GEOconnexion International Magazine, on September 2011. The article expounds on the European DIPECHO program (Disaster Preparedness European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office), the Italian Foundation Cooperazione Internazionale (COOPI) and the Centre for Geoinformatics (Z_GIS) at the University of Salzburg, Austria, initiation of the 'GI4DRR' project (http://www.gi4drr.org/). The project's central objective is to support DIPECHO partners and NGO beneficiaries in practically applying geoinformation and Earth Observation imagery for disaster preparedness and response planning by local institutions, authorities and communities. For this purpose, it aims to facilitate the integration of local knowledge and perceptions into geoinformation analysis and enhanced spatial decision support tools. DIPECHO 2011. ECHO/DIP/BUD/2010/04004