Research plan

📋 Comprehensive Research Plan: From Grassroots Mapping to the VirtuBook

As part of our Community Insight Analysis, researchers, youth workers, and volunteers across Italy, Latvia, and Greece are diving deep into Community Mapping and Participatory Action Research (PAR). Our objective is to bridge local knowledge with powerful spatial tools to identify disaster risks, map community resources, and evaluate vulnerabilities from the ground up.

🗺️ Our Methodological Framework & Workflow

To ensure our research is robust, structured, and transnationally comparable, our work follows an integrated path spanning several key tracks:

• Preparatory Theory & Baseline Surveys (B): We begin with foundational risk and resilience theory, followed by comprehensive community surveys engaging approximately 40 people per country to establish initial risk awareness.

• Participatory Action Research (PAR) & GIS Integration: Through focused virtual working groups (approx. 10 people), participants engage in hands-on PAR combining local insights with Geographic Information Systems (GIS) mapping.

• National Country Deliverables (C & D): Each partner country conducts localized assessments involving around 10 active participants per region, culminating in distinct community maps and structured data inputs.

📊 The Deliverables Equation: Building the VirtuBook

Our entire research design systematically funnels local findings into concrete academic and practical outputs. Everything is synthesized through our core project equation:

Paper 1 (A) + Paper 2 (C) + Paper 3 (D) = VirtuBook (E)

• Paper 1 (A): Establishes the initial theoretical and contextual framework.

• Paper 2 (C): Captures the practical country-level findings, incorporating our local PAR sessions and 3 distinct mapping deliverables.

• Paper 3 (D): Integrates broad community survey data (B + Bn) with structural analyses.

• The VirtuBook (E): The ultimate collaborative synthesis bringing together all national insights into a comprehensive, multilingual open-access resource.

🚀 What’s Next in the Pipeline?

1. Executing Local Fieldwork: Finalizing our multi-country community surveys and GIS mapping sessions with youth workers and volunteers.

2. Drafting National Analyses: Synthesizing survey feedback and mapping data into comprehensive reports for each partner region.

3. Publishing and Sharing: Compiling our research tracks into the final VirtuBook to shape our upcoming interactive e-learning modules and scenario-based training videos.