What is Desinventar

What is DesInventar?

DesInventar is a conceptual and methodological development which deals with disasters of all magnitudes and a diversity of environments: local; national and regional.

It is conceptual on the one hand; because it does not only consider high-impact events on regions or countries; but also sporadic effects of this type of event on vulnerable communities at a local scale; and on the other; because it also considers as disasters all losses stemming from impacts of phenomena which are natural; technological or anthropological in origin; which occur frequently in these communities.

It is methodological because; based on definitions of adverse effects and losses; it allows these to be placed in function of the spatial-temporal variables in which they take place. Because of this; it makes the geographical representation of all variables considered through the gathering of data possible; so that it enables a vision of the event starting from a local perspective to visions that are integrated spatially at national scales; as well as multi-temporal visions at these scales.

It is a system which inventories disasters; a methodology for registering information about the characteristics and effects of diverse types of disasters; with a special interest in disasters at a regional or national scale; which in turn enables a look at the accumulation of these types of local disasters from a national and regional perspective.

The methodology of DesInventar; created so as to be flexible and adaptable; is applicable to political-administrative units of planning; management or institutional operations; from national resolution levels to detailed levels; for example; a city grouped in neighbourhoods or blocks.

Thus; DesInventar is the synthesis of a process by which research groups; linked to LA RED; propose a unified conceptual and methodological framework which deals with disasters; and at the same time; is an instrument for the development of its proposed objectives. The basic criteria which guide DesInventar are:

All the inventories use the same variables to measure effects; and have the same basic and homogeneous classification of events.
Gathered and processed information is input into a timescale and a geographically references spatial level.

The inventories are treated analytically; through system tools; as a basic requisite to gain spatial and temporal visions of the occurrence of disasters; in order to support comparative research and risk management.