Rehabitar la Montaña: strategies and processes for sustainable communities in the mountainous periphery of Medellín
Thousands of poor, marginal communities’ residents die due to landslide events every year. The quick urbanization of mountainous areas, combined with an increased frequency of landslide events induced by heavy rains due to climate change, is leading to increased deaths year after year, and the problem will only get worse. Landscape Architects, trained to analyze and intervene in situations with complex natural and social territorial dynamics, are in position to make positive contributions to mitigating risks in such situations. A collaborative effort between a team of landscape architects from Germany and Urbanists in Medellin Colombia is carrying out a four-phased research and implementation proposal to anticipate and mitigate risk in low-income settlements on Medellin's urban periphery. They propose five pilot projects to test risk mitigation strategies through monitoring and early warning systems, drainage improvements, urban agriculture, slope forestation, and developing sites with the supplied services.
La gestión comunitaria del riesgo. Justicia espacial y ambiental
A successful community risk management experience is presented as part of neighborhood social construction, avoiding the conflict generated by the application of normative guidelines for the territorial ordering of Medellin (Colombia), and the adverse geomorphological conditions of a hillside context. For this, an action research methodology was applied, structured from participatory popular education scenarios with a neighborhood community: El Pacifico, located in the upper part of Comuna 8, on the northeast slope of Medellin. Based on this proposal, a community risk management and disaster prevention plan was formulated, contemplating the identification of socio territorial threats, risk reduction measures, and a programmatic component. Taking these results as a reference, we discuss the implications of community risk management and its ability to reduce the gap in socio-spatial inequities. In conclusion, community disaster risk management, combined with popular education practices and interaction between academia, the community, social organizations, and government institutions, can serve as a key practice for the realization of spatial and environmental justice in the city of Medellin.
Thermal properties of the Florida Current as related to Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC)
The thermal properties of the Florida Current are presented and analyzed for the available ocean thermal energy. For a cold water intake depth equal to or greater than 600 m, potential sites for Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion (OTEC) power plants appear to exist in the Straits of Florida and, to a lesser extent, off the coasts of Georgia and South Carolina. The maximum thermal differences occur on the continental shelf because of the geostrophic motion of the Gulf Stream. An estimate of the total available ocean thermal energy from the Florida Current, delivered in the form of electricity, is 3.5 × 1012 kWh yr−1. For a cold water suction depth of 600 m or more, seasonal variability in the ocean thermal resource is approx. ±35 per cent of average annual output.