Development of an Application for Coordination and Climate Disaster Response in Rio Grande do Sul, Brazil

This project proposes the development of a mobile application to improve the coordination and response to climate‑related disasters in the Brazilian state of Rio Grande do Sul, particularly following the severe floods of May 2024. Built through Design Thinking and structured across five phases over 24 months, the project involves field research, participatory workshops, iterative prototyping, pilot testing, and user training. Its outcome will be a validated proof‑of‑concept application designed to centralise real‑time information, streamline communication between authorities, rescue teams, and affected communities, and strengthen emergency preparedness and response.

This project aims to create a mobile phone app that helps people and authorities deal better with major climate disasters, such as the huge floods that struck Rio Grande do Sul in 2024. During those floods, many people struggled to find reliable information about shelters, rescue efforts, and available support, often relying on fragmented WhatsApp messages.

To fix this, the research team will talk to residents affected by the floods and to decision‑makers who managed the crisis. Their experiences will guide the design of the app. The project will build early prototypes, test them with real users, and keep improving the app until it is ready for a trial run. Later, training workshops will help communities and officials learn how to use it.

When finished, the app should provide a single, trustworthy place for alerts, maps, shelter locations, resource management and other key information, thus helping save time, reduce confusion, and support faster and better‑organised responses during future emergencies.

This project is expected to deliver a validated proof‑of‑concept mobile application that significantly enhances the coordination and communication required for effective disaster response in Rio Grande do Sul. Through extensive field research, participatory design workshops, and iterative prototyping, the project will generate robust evidence on the real information, communication, and logistical needs experienced by both affected communities and decision‑makers during the 2024 floods.

The research will demonstrate how Design Thinking methodologies can be successfully applied to disaster‑management contexts, resulting in user‑centred digital solutions that align closely with operational realities. The project will also produce practical insights into the challenges of implementing integrated digital systems in crisis settings, including issues of trust, data reliability, and digital infrastructure.

A key outcome will be evidence of the app’s potential to reduce response times, improve access to verified real‑time data, and streamline logistical coordination across agencies. The pilot testing phase will provide measurable indicators of usability and effectiveness, while the training phase will document improvements in preparedness, digital capability, and system adoption among both communities and institutional actors.

Finally, the project will generate transferable knowledge, including methodological protocols, evaluation data, and user‑derived insights, that can inform future policy, support academic publications, and guide the development of similar tools in other regions facing climate‑related disasters.