Innovative solutions to disaster preparedness
CARE supported communities in the Philippines to come up with innovative ways to prepare for potential natural disasters, through the TUKLAS Innovation Labs project funded by the START Network’s Disasters and Emergencies Preparedness Programme. Under the project, which ran from 2017 to 2019, small organisations had to present their innovations in a ‘dragon’s den’ style and the most successful ones were funded and supported through the project. TUKLAS means discovery in Filipino and CARE supported 10 innovations including concepts such as Flaremob – a web based application that can be used to alert residents and evacuation leaders in time of crisis; and the Disaster Preparedness Simulator – a virtual reality simulator with scenarios such as earthquakes and flooding which will be used as a learning activity in schools.
The Disaster Preparedness Simulator immerses users in realistic disaster situations – flooding, storm surge, and earthquakes – and requires them to make decisions to survive. Patrick Naui, from Ania Design Lab who came up with the idea, said the aim was to put students in “a disaster situation where they can make life-and-death decisions without compromising their safety”. Lara Severino, one of the co-designers alongside Patrick and their colleague Alyzza Delgado, said:
What we learned through TUKLAS is that the community has to be the centre of our project. We have to learn from their practices and pre-existing systems if the simulator is to become a truly immersive experience.
Read more about CARE's work in the Philippines
CARE Philippines Accomplishment Report 2020
Our partners, funders and donors in 2020:
CARE Philippines partners, funders and donors 2020
Read about how CARE works with local partners to prepare communities to respond to natural disasters:
CARE Philippines Humanitarian Partnership Platform
You can directly support poor entrepreneurs in the Philippines
Our Lendwithcare programme works with local microfinance institution partners to offer loans to people in poor communities who are starting or building up a small business. Find out more about Lendwithcare and how you can make a small loan directly to an entrepreneur in the Philippines.
