AI and Data Science for Disaster Resilience and Public Space
Venue: University of Florida, School of Architecture Gallery.
Objective
Equip participants with an understanding of how data science and AI techniques, together with game engines, are transforming response, addressing both opportunities and challenges, and engaging the community in disaster response.
Target Audience
This workshop is aimed at DCP students interested in leveraging AI, data science, and game engines to improve disaster response. A basic understanding of disaster management concepts would be beneficial, although optional.
Data Collection / Crowdsourcing
Data Processing / Machine Learning
09h30 – 10h30
Introduction
Welcome and context-setting for the workshop.
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
Venue: University of Florida, School of Architecture Gallery.
Objective
The track on Resilience and Heritage delves into the symbiotic relationship between built heritage and resilience in the face of disasters and dynamic environmental challenges. This track aims to explore how preserving and integrating heritage into urban planning and disaster management strategies can foster more resilient communities. Heritage, encompassing historic structures, monuments, cultural landscapes, and traditional architectural practices, not only carries immense cultural and historical significance but also plays a pivotal role in enhancing community resilience. The Resilience and Heritage workshop invites researchers, practitioners, heritage experts, and community representatives to share their experiences, insights, and research findings. Together, we aim to explore innovative ways to integrate heritage considerations into urban planning, disaster management, and resilience-building strategies for a more sustainable and culturally rich future.
Target Audience
This workshop is aimed at students interested in documenting and preserving cultural heritage through environmental change and disasters.
14h30 – 15h00
Introduction
Welcome and goals for the workshop
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
Changjie Chen is an urban planner, statistician, as well as an open-source enthusiast. His scholarly endeavors are centered on spatial decision analysis aimed at enhancing the sustainability of urban built environments and bolstering community resilience. The core of his work involves modeling and analyzing integrated systems of land use and transportation, which is achieved through utilizing an agglomeration of technologies such as Geographic Information Systems (GIS), remote sensing, spatial econometrics, machine learning, and high-performance computing. A fervent advocate for the Open Science movement, Dr. Chen contributes to the community through actively developing and managing two open-source Python packages dedicated to GIS-based land use modeling. His most recent research aims to advance urban planning by employing leading-edge geospatial analytics and web-based 3D graphics technologies to create urban digital twins, offering a dynamic platform to visualize real-world conditions and explore alternative future scenarios. Dr. Chen’s research has garnered substantial support, including funding from the National Aeronautics and Space Administration (NASA), the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), and various Florida state government agencies, such as Department of Environment Protection and Department of Transportation.
Sheyla Santana is an urban planner with a background in GIS. Sheyla holds a PhD in Architecture, Urban Planning, and GIS from UFMG. Her research focuses on vulnerability assessment, community-focused planning, citizen science, digital twin, and visioning scenarios to support adaptation to urban spaces. Sheyla applies geodesign techniques to engage stakeholders in collaboratively designing solutions for spatial challenges in built and natural environments. Sheyla is interested in studying the interaction of humans, environment, and infrastructure in the urban context, aiming to leverage their dynamic to foster sustainability and resilience. Currently, she is working on a project for post-disaster recovery/long-term adaptation design and a planning project assisting Lee County following Hurricane Ian.
Jeff Carney is a registered architect and certified city planner working at the interface of housing, neighborhoods, and ecosystems with a focus on climate change adaptation. He is associate professor in the School of Architecture at the University of Florida, director of the Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience (FIBER), and director of the Florida Resilient Cities program (FRC). Jeff’s work in Florida is focused on the resilience of communities achieved through transdisciplinary and community engaged design processes. Jeff has a B.A in Architecture from Washington University in St. Louis and his Masters in both Architecture and City and Regional Planning from the University of California, Berkeley.
Juan Fernando Hidalgo is a member of the Virtualtech research group at the Faculty of Architecture of the University of Cuenca. He is an Architect (University of Cuenca), Master in Eco-Sustainable Architecture (University of Bologna), and PhD in Technological Innovation in Building Technology (Polytechnic University of Madrid-Cum Laude). His main research lines are the use of non-wood forest products in construction, innovation in construction systems, and materials science. He has participated as guest professor at the Polytechnic University of Madrid, Czech University of Life Sciences in Prague, University of Yale, UMPRUM in Prague, UTM in Manabí. Currently he is a professor of construction technology at the Faculty of Architecture, University of Cuenca.
Francisco is an architect serving as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Cuenca, Ecuador, and the director of the Master’s program in BIM Project Management. He obtained his master’s degree from the Polytechnic University of Valencia. Combining academia with his professional practice, he has worked on and led various projects in both the public and private sectors in Ecuador and Spain. His expertise focuses on BIM consulting, design, and construction. His research explores synergies between physical architecture and digital architecture.
Christian Calle Figueroa is an urban designer and assistant scholar at the University of Florida, Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience FIBER. He graduated as an architect from the University of Cuenca, Ecuador, and obtained a Master in Advanced Studies in Urban Design and a Diploma of Advanced Studies in Spatial Planning at ETH Zurich. Over the past decade, Christian has been engaged in urban studies and projects globally, addressing diverse urban challenges. His work has spanned from the re-urbanization of favelas in Brazil to developing housing projects in Ecuador and designing master plans in Switzerland and Germany.
In recent years, Christian’s focus has shifted towards climate-resilient projects, particularly vulnerability assessment plans for coastal communities in Florida. In his practice, Christian has a profound interest in studying the relationship between human behavior and spatial configuration and how it influences public life in neighborhoods and collective housing.
Whit Schroder is an Assistant Professor in the Department of Anthropology at the University of Florida (UF) and an affiliate faculty member with the Center for Latin American Studies and the American Indian and Indigenous Studies program. He received his Ph.D. in Anthropology from the University of Pennsylvania in 2019, joining the University of Florida as a postdoctoral Associate with the Florida Institute for Built Environment Resilience before becoming an Assistant Professor in 2023. Whit is an anthropological archaeologist interested in how communities shape their landscapes to address socioenvironmental crises. His work has involved the use of airborne remote sensing using lidar and multispectral satellite imagery to map archaeological landscapes and to track land cover change. Whit currently directs the Proyecto Arqueológico Bajo Lacantún (Lower Lacantún Archaeological Project) in Chiapas, Mexico to investigate the political ecology and resilience of Maya communities and political centers beginning at least 1,500 years ago in the fluvial environment of the Lacantún and Upper Usumacinta Rivers.
Dr. María (Mary) is an architect working as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Architecture at the University of Cuenca, Ecuador. She obtained her Master’s in Conservation of Monuments and Sites(2014) and her PhD (2018) at KULeuven, Belgium. Since 2012, she has been part of the CityPreservation Management-CPM research group at the University of Cuenca. She is actively engaged in the comprehensive management of cities, with a particular focus on preserving and revitalizing historical centers within their urban settings to promote sustainable development. Currently, she is also actively involved in initiatives such as OurWorldHeritage, Go-HUL, the CIPAEmerging-Professionals group, and part of the Interim National Committee of ICOMOSEcuador.
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.
