Dr Diego Moreira, Lic Camila Prudente, Dr Federico Robledo, Lic Nadia Testani
Urban flooding is a major challenge for local governments worldwide due to its direct and severe impact on communities. As climate change intensifies, these risks are escalating, making the assessment and monitoring of urban watersheds a priority. This is why the Early Warnings for All initiative approved by the United Nations in 2022 seeks to ensure that everyone on Earth is protected from dangerous climate, water or weather events through life-saving early warning systems.
The Anticipando la Crecida(ALC) project - "Anticipating the Flood" - is a ten-year initiative aimed at improving flood preparedness through the co-creation of a local early warning system in differents regions, as in the Matanza River Basin (MRB), a rural-urban sub-basin of the Plata Basin in Buenos Aires, Argentina. This region, home to over five million people, faces increased vulnerability due to its socio-economic conditions and limited infrastructure, making flood risk management critical.
The project combines scientific knowledge from different disciplines (meteorology, oceanography, geography, anthropology and engineering) with the knowledge of the local community (local neighbors, civil defense, teachers and students of schools that act as evacuation centers, community organizations and the science and technology department of the local government in the MRB) in a continuous dialogue. In addition, the project actively involves young people as key actors in the development of locally relevant climate adaptation strategies.