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Catherine Hickson, Geological Survey of Canada (Canada)
Pedro Alcantara, SEGEMAR (Argentina)
Mike Ellerbeck, Geological Survey of Canada (Canada)
Roberto Page, SEGEMAR (Argentina)
Fernando Muņoz-Carmona, MAP:GAC (United States)
Reginald Hermanns, MAP:GAC (Canada)
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The Andean Countries of Argentina, Bolivia, Chile, Columbia, Ecuador, Peru, and Venezuela, have been working with Canada for six years (2002 - 2008) on a cooperative project funded by each participating country and the Canadian International Development Agency (CIDA). Working with a combined funding of over $35 million dollars and principally with the national geoscience agencies in each country, the project has been employing innovative methodologies for transforming geoscience hazard knowledge into action in Andean communities.
While focusing on strengthening the national geoscience agencies in the seven Andean nations, the project aim has been to contribute to improving the quality of life of communities in the region by producing scientific knowledge on landslides, earthquakes, and volcanoes to promote risk reduction in the region. To achieve this ambitious objective, work initially focused on helping the institutions ensure that they were producing high quality science that also was relevant and understandable to decision makers in areas subject to natural hazards. The project then moved toward developing a methodology that would help land-use planners, emergency managers and communities understand the geoscience knowledge and apply it to their decision making processes. Results of the project have principally been published in a series created by the Chilean Government "Publicación Geológica Multinacional" under ISSN 0717-3733. The publications include an Atlas of Quaternary Deformation in the Andes (Atlas de deformaciones cuaternarias de los Andes), Publicación Geológica Multinacional, No. 7; a collection of 16 papers reporting on the Andean Experience in the Mitigation of Geological Risk (Experiencias Andinas en mitigación de riesgos geológicos. Proyecto Multinacional Andino: Geociencias para las Comunidades Andinas), Publicación Geológica Multinacional, No. 6; a publication intended for the general public on understanding the geological hazards in the Andean region, (Conozcamos los peligros geológicos en la región Andino), Publicación Geológica Multinacional, No. 5; a guide to the evaluation of landslide hazards including a glossary of standardized terms (Movimientos en masa en la región Andina: una guía para la evaluación de amenazas), Publicación Geológica Multinacional, No. 4; a brochure with map highlighting some of the principle geological hazards in the Andean region (Conozcamos los peligros geológicos en los Andes) was also published. MAP:GAC was instrumental in having the UN/International Strategy for Disaster Reduction's book Living with Risk, translated into Spanish (Vivir con el Riesgo: informe mundial sobre iniciativas para la reducción de desastres). This influential book is now available to millions of hazard reduction and risk mitigation practitioners in the Spanish speaking world.
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