Cartographic materials and training for students’ disaster response

ABSTRACT

The active participation of children in educational activities through appropriate presentation of information, short training seminars and entertaining games can increase their resilience and can contribute significantly to their preparedness and adequate response in emergency situations. General concepts for educational materials and children training are shared in this paper. The methods and materials should be child-friendly and properly structured according to particular age groups. After analysing best practices and discussing some experiences about understanding cartographic information, the authors propose educational materials for children’s preparedness in case of disasters; a book, leaflets, posters, and maps. The paper also describes appropriate modern equipment to train students for disaster response, which could be used for simulations and representations of disastrous events: AR Sandbox. All educational materials, activities and tools aim to provide children an opportunity to acquire knowledge and skills for disaster preparedness, response and first aid and to apply them in case of an emergency.

RÉSUMÉ

La participation active des enfants aux activités éducatives grâce à une présentation adéquate de l'information, à des petits séminaires de formation et à des jeux divertissants peut améliorer leur résilience et contribuer ainsi de façon significative à leur préparation et à leur capacité d'avoir une réaction appropriée lors de situations d'urgence. Ce papier présente les concepts généraux du matériel éducatif et de la formation des enfants. Les méthodes et le matériel doivent être adaptés aux enfants et doivent être correctement structurés en fonction des groupes d'âge. Après une analyse des bonnes pratiques et une discussion sur des expériences concernant la compréhension de l'information cartographique, les auteurs proposent le matériel éducatif adapté pour la préparation des enfants en cas de catastrophes : un livre, des dépliants, des posters et des cartes. Le papier décrit également AR Sandbox, l'équipement moderne adapté à la formation des enfants en cas de catastrophe, équipement qui peut être utilisé pour des simulations et pour la représentation d'événements décrivant des catastrophes. Le matériel, les activités et les outils pédagogiques ont pour objectifs de donner aux enfants l'opportunité d'acquérir des connaissances et compétences pour préparer, réagir et participer aux premiers secours en cas d'urgence lors d'une catastrophe.

KEYWORDS:

• Cartography
• educational centre
• educational materials
• children’s disaster preparedness
• disaster response

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes on contributors

Temenoujka Bandrova is head of the Laboratory on Cartography, UACEG, Sofia, Bulgaria; Vice President, International Cartographic Association; Treasurer, International Society for Digital Earth and President, Bulgarian Cartographic Association. Her professional interests include 3D cartographic modelling, mapping for children, cartographic symbol systems, map projections and cartography for EWCM. She was a postgraduate student in computer graphics at the Institute for Computer Graphics, TU, Graz, Austria, 1996. She has participated in several international and national scientific projects, and has authored more than 100 scientific publications: papers, articles, book chapters, books, etc. and more than 150 citations (RG). She is Project Manager at DataMap–Europe Ltd.; more than 40 of her school atlases and more than 100 wall maps have been published and approved by the Ministry of Education for use in Bulgarian schools. She is a visiting lecturer at many universities for different international programmes in Tokyo, Japan; Brno, Czech Republic; Bogotá, Colombia; Budapest, Hungary; Ghent, Belgium; Lisbon, Portugal; Beijing and Henan, China, among others. She was president of the organising committees of seven international conferences on cartography and of GIS: 2006, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014, 2016, 2018. She organised National Map Day 2015 and 2016, and map exhibitions in UACEG and the Bulgarian parliament.

Silvia Marinova is Secretary General of the Bulgarian Cartographic Association and Chief Assist. Prof. at the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy – Sofia, Department of Photogrammetry and Cartography. She serves as a cartographer at KartGeo, where her main activities are map design and editing. Her science interests are focused on thematic mapping for disaster management, cross-border mapping, mountain cartography and mapping for children. Silvia Marinova graduated from the University of Architecture, Civil Engineering and Geodesy – Sofia, with a master’s degree in Geodesy and Cartography and a PhD in Cartography. Her PhD research focused on thematic mapping and visualisation for early warning and crisis management.