Spring 2005, Chapel Hill, North Carolina

Team members reviewed their progress on the data analyses, discussed their policy briefs and working papers, and evaluated the strengths and weaknesses of the training program and research collaboration.

A public presentation on the project and the preliminary findings was given to the UNC community.

Click here to view presentation (pdf)

Team members gather for a group photo at UNC.
Photo: Robert Jenkins

Summer 2004, Prague, Czech Republic

Czech and US faculty and graduate students spent three weeks in Summer 2004 completing a second round of data collection. Working in small groups, team members conducted interviews with over 25 representatives from government agencies and nongovernmental organizations in six case study towns and in Prague. Each of the groups examined response to the floods of 2002 in the context of one of the following substantive areas:

• Financial and economic instruments
• Water and river management policy
• Humanitarian relief organizations
• Environmental organizations
• Land use planning

As a means for assessing change and policy learning, the findings from the interviews completed in 2004 will be compared with the results obtained from the first round of interviews conducted in 2003.

Winter 2004, Cambridge, Massachusetts

 
In Winter 2004, the senior investigators and graduate student research associates met at Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Cambridge, Massachusetts. The team engaged in preliminary data analysis, reviewed background documents and information, and planned for the next phase of research. In addition to intensive meetings and discussions, the following training seminars were conducted:

Seminar I:
Greening After the Flood: Using GIS in Disaster Recovery, Rhonda Ryznar, Tufts University
 
Seminar II:
Introduction to Qualitative Data Analysis, JoAnn Carmin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 
Seminar III:
Institutions, Information, and Flood Dynamics, Douglas Crawford-Brown, UNC-Chapel Hill
 
Seminar IV:
Institutions and Learning from Disaster, Stacy VanDeveer, University of New Hampshire
 
Seminar V:
Survey Design and Data Coding, JoAnn Carmin, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
 
Seminar VI:
Greening Community Development, William Shutkin, MIT and New Ecology, Inc.
 
Seminar VII:
Framing and Frame Analysis, Stacy VanDeveer, University of New Hampshire
 
Seminar VIII:
Joint Fact Finding and Adaptive Environmental Management, Herman Karl, United States Geological Survey

Roundtable on EU Enlargement and Environmental Quality

The team sponsored a roundtable discussion on EU enlargement and environmental quality that was open to the MIT community. The following faculty and students presented their research and analysis: Jirina Jilkova (Regional Environmental Policy), Lenka Camrova (Water Framework Directive), Dana Victorova (SAPARD Program), and Stacy VanDeveer (Capacity and Implementation Challenges).

Click here to view a complete schedule of Winter 2004 activities

Summer 2003, Prague, Czech Republic

Research Activities

In Summer 2003, the senior investigators and graduate student research associates conducted almost 60 semi-structured interviews with national, regional, and local government and agency officials and representatives from humanitarian and environmental organizations. The interviews were conducted in Prague and in Ceske Budejovice, Cesky Krumlov, Usti nad Labem, Neratovice, Plzen, and Susice--six municipalities that were flooded in North and South Bohemia.

Graduate Student Training Activities

Czech and US graduate students are working with the senior investigators on all aspects of the flood research. To ensure consistency and promote common understanding, the following training seminars were conducted at the Institute for Economic and Environmental Policy in Prague:

In addition to graduate training, undergraduate students from the University of North Carolina at Chapel Hill are working with the senior investigators on select aspects of the research. In Summer 2003, five UNC-CH students spent two days in Prague, meeting with the investigators and attending Research Training Seminars V and VI.