Projects

Pilot projects as demonstration cases

The promotion of projects was one of the objectives of the network and it has been one of its achievements. The pilot projects as demonstration cases are specially interesting actions in the field of international cooperation. Through them, carrying them out in the context of a network of specialists as PROHIMET, a work of technology transfer, with a specific outcome that solves a real problem, is performed

Each project is reduced geographic area, with the aim of low implementation costs, but, with the right selection and the suitable approach, it is possible to achieve a solution that can be extrapolated to many other places with similar problems.

Since the workshop of Valencia (Spain) in 2004, PROHIMET has made several diagnosis, it has developed proposals and it has defined recommendations set for the correct implementation of early warning systems for flood risk. Also, since the creation of the network, its members expressed their belief in the need and usefulness of pilot and demonstration cases. With these experiences, the aim are to overcome the shortcomings that are noticed generally, to demonstrate the accuracy of the conclusions described above and, ultimately, to demonstrate the usefulness of an early warning system based on a monitoring and forecasting hydrometeorological system.

Benefits and outcomes

• The pilot project are interesting as demonstration cases of approaches, methodologies and diagnosis.
• Several solutions to specific real problems are being tested.
• The interchange of knowlegde and experience thanks to the discussion in the Internet forum and the activities of the different workgroups.
• Strengthening of institutional capacities, improvement of cooperation, and capacity building are important benefits at regional, national and local level.

First phase

Since the creation of the network, its members expressed their conviction about the need and usefulness of pilot project as demonstration cases. This was shown during the Santo Domingo events and, as a consequence, the WMO offered support for developing two projects.

Among six proposals, the following were selected:

1) PROYECTO PROHIMET-YÍ

• Title: Pilot project for the early warning system of the Durazno city under Yi river floods (proyecto piloto de alerta temprana para la ciudad de Durazno ante las avenidas del rio Yí)
• Country: Uruguay
• City: Durazno
• River: Yí

2) PROYECTO PILOTO COLOMBIA

• Title: Hydrometeorological system of Nare and Guatape river basins, located at Antioquía-Colombia (sistema hidrometeorológico en las cuencas de los ríos Nare y Guatape, ubicados en Antioquia-Colombia)
• Country : Colombia
• Cities: El Retiro, Guarne, Rionegro, La Ceja, Carmen de Viboral, Marinilla, Santuario, San Vicente, El Peñol, Guatapé y San Rafael.
• River : Nare and Guatapé.

The main characteristics of these projects can be summarized in the following table:

Thus, the two projects are complementary and they can be considered like representative of the most common cases of the Latin American region.

Implementation of the projects

Orientation

The goal of the network is to exchange experiences and to involve experts from various countries in the implementation of the pilot projects. Therefore, the orientation for the project is to develope in phases whose partial results will be presented to the network for discussion. In addition, some specific tasks will be carried out by specialists from institutions other than those leading the project. Presenting the final results is considered as equivalent to presenting a project developed by any organization on their own, so all the training value of the pilot project itself is loosing.

Process

In short, the followed process for the implementation of PROHIMET projects has been:

• Call for proposals: Submition of candidate projects to be selected as PROHIMET projects is offered to members of the network. In the first call, six proposals were submitted.
• Analysis of proposals: A process of analysis and discussion of each of the alternatives. The goal is for all members to assess the viability of each project and the more common interest.
• Project selection. The final decision is made by the coordinators, taking into acount the above criteria and the results of the previous phase

The details of the process of the first call for proposals can be found at: 2006 Project Development Process

Once a project has been selected, the next steps are: to define it in a more detailed way, to achieve the necessary institutional arrangements and to get their funding (by WMO).

Specific results

• PROHIMET-Colombia:

See (spanish) http://dir.prohimet.org/proyecto-colombia

• PROHIMET-Yí:

See (spanish) http://dir.prohimet.org/proyecto-uruguay