The conference was jointly organized by the University of Florida (USA) and the University of Cuenca (Ecuador).

This conference aims to create a space to discuss the capacity of medium and small cities to face several of the sustainability challenges of the 21st century. Primarily, the conference aims to expose strategies to mitigate and adapt cities to climate change, tools and methods to deal with natural and manmade risks, and how to respond to the problems of weak urban planning and urban sprawl. The conference sessions will explore the multifaceted contribution of different knowledge and experiences in creative forms of resilience in the built environment in a multicultural dialogue.

This conference creates unique spaces for unconventional encounters that spark debate, international exchanges, and networking. The conference also aims to align the ongoing debate on sustainability and resilience in the built environment by empowering local and international practitioners, researchers, policymakers, activists, students, and volunteers in their collaborative practices.

Conference Schedule

Feb. 22, 2024

AI and Data Science for Disaster Resilience and Public Space

09h30 – 10h30
Introduction

Showcase of a Vulnerability Assessment Plan in Cedar Key

Lecture on the evolving role of AI and Data Science in disaster response

Lecture crowdsourcing data and community participation

Lecture on how to use game engines to visualize existing and crowdsource collected data for disaster response.

10h30 – 11h30
Building Disaster Resilience through AI

Demo on AI and Data Science to automatically recognize objects and surface recognition

Demo on collecting and visualizing data

Demo on Enhancing community and infrastructure resilience using data-driven insights visualized and interacted with game engines.

11h30 – 12h30
Conclusion and Q&A

Reflecting on the transformative potential and limitations of AI and data science in disaster contexts.

How visualization and interaction through game engines can modify community perception of safety.

Open forum for participant questions, insights, and feedback.

Resilience and Heritage

14h30 – 15h00
Introduction

Lecture on heritage preservation in post-disaster recovery and remote sensing

Lecture on adaptive reuse of heritage structures for resilience

Lecture on negative heritage and intangible heritage preservation

15h00 – 16h00
Remote Sensing Tools for Heritage Documentation

Demo on software and where to access remote sensing data

Demo on visualizing and sharing lidar data

Demo on tracking change with lidar and multispectral data

Integrating remote sensing with on-the-ground research and local knowledge

16h00 – 16h30
Conclusion and Q&A

The future of big data, AI, and remote sensing for heritage preservation

Open forum for participant questions, insights, and feedback

Feb. 23, 2024

Resilient Communities
In-between Disasters

09h15 – 10h30
Introduction

Lecture on the forensics of urban climate adaptation.

Presenting the app for field data collection (explain how it works, we can send instructions a few days before the workshop to the signed participants).

10h30 – 11h45
Learning by walking

Scenario walk with students organized along three or four stops.

Students will collect observational evidence of risk exposure and adaptation strategies applied to the built environment. Data will be collected using ArcGIS Fieldmaps.

11h45 – 12h00
Conclusion and Q&A

Visualizing the results of the exercise.

Reflecting on the connection between spaces and memories.

Reflecting on the role of communities in shaping their environment.

Adaptation and Transformation: Community-Led Stories of Positive Change

12h30 – 13h30
Introduction

Welcome and context-setting for the workshop.

Lecture on Envisioning Future Adaptation in Communities

13h30 – 14h30
Scenario Planning

The morning workshops will center around three or four scenarios according to the input of the UF and U Cuenca communities. These same scenarios can be used to start a discussion on scenario planning.

The participants will be invited to describe the possible ways to conduct community envisioning (agent-based modeling, co-design, etc.)

We will create a workshop to promote a thought experiment about tackling climate change with positive approaches.

14h30 – 15h00
Conclusion and Q&A

We showed the workshop results as possible options to promote the perspective change.

Open forum for participant questions, insights, and feedback.

Carla Brisotto, Ph.D. (USA)

Is an urban theorist and urban storyteller with a background in architecture. Carl serves as the Assistant Director of the Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience (FIBER)and Assistant Scholar at the School of Architecture at the University of Florida (UF). Brisotto holds a Ph.D. in Design, Construction, and Planning from UF and a Professional Architecture degree from the University IUAV of Venice. At the core of Carla’s research lies the intersection of urbanism and environmental narratives. Her research focuses on productive landscapes and climate change’s asymmetric impacts on population and their places through contemporary and historical lenses. Carla employs storytelling as a research method and works closely with communities within the Florida Resilient Cities Lab to understand the dynamics of spontaneous urban transformation. Currently, Carla is leading the international project “ReclaiMEDLand” funded by the Department of State of the United States of America, APS–Annual Program Statement 2023.