Methods
Sustainable Development Goals
The United Nations’ 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development introduced the SDGs in 2015 to make “an urgent call for action by all countries - developed and developing - in a global partnership.”
The 17 SDGs provides specific goals with measurable outcomes concerning the three pillars of sustainability, and their prevalence at the global level.
At the core of this class and Vulnerability Assessment are the 17 SDGs. Georgia Tech is integrating the SDGs across the institute through the implementation of the Serve-Learn-Sustain program.
Framework Design (IPCC AR5)
According to the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC), climate change vulnerability is “a core concept that describes the degree to which a natural or social system is susceptible to, and unable to cope with, adverse effects of climate change” (IPCC, 2007) and it is typically measured through a blend of Sensitivity, Exposure, and Adaptive Capacity.
In their Assessment Report 5, the IPCC indicates that social and economic processes influence climate vulnerabilities.
This influence is represented in the diagram at the right, which indicates that climate vulnerabilities are defined as the intersection of social, economic, and environmental vulnerabilities.
Geographic Information Systems(GIS)
According to the United States Geological Survey, Geographic Information Systems (GIS) is “a computer system that analyzes and displays geographically referenced information. It uses data that is attached to a unique location” (USGS, 2020, p. 1). Data which are tied to a unique location are known as spatial data. GIS is the type of digital tools that are used to collect, manage, analyze, and visualize spatial data.
Spatial analysis can be implemented to explore a wide range of problems in sustainable development and beyond. Examples of implementation of GIS toward sustainable development include mapping of environmental flood risk vulnerabilities, population demographics such as poverty, and economic stressors such as energy burden. GIS can be used to spatially analyze these vulnerabilities at national, state, and various local levels, making it a useful tool in completing Climate Vulnerability Assessments.
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TimeLine
Phases
Research
Phase 1
Phase 2
Mapping
REcommendation
Phase 3
Data Collection
Analysis
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Analysis
Initial Website
Building
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Final Report
Website
Community
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