A New Roadmap for Disaster Management

The increase in disasters such as fires, floods, tornadoes, avalanches, and earthquakes, driven in part by global climate change, has mobilized academics at Izmir University of Economics (IUE). Aiming to strengthen field coordination and reduce response times during disasters, four academics have developed a new communication model with the support of TUBITAK (The Scientific and Technological Research Council of Türkiye). The project, completed in approximately two years, features notable proposals such as establishing backup communication systems for when GSM networks fail, increasing the technological competence of field personnel, and creating joint VR/AR-based drill environments so institutions can experience disaster scenarios in advance.

A long research process was conducted for the project, led by Prof. Dr. Ebru Uzunoğlu from the IUE Department of Public Relations and Advertising, alongside Head of Department Prof. Dr. Selin Türkel, Vice Dean of the Faculty of Communication Asst. Prof. Dr. Pınar Umul Ünsal, and Head of the Department of Software Engineering Prof. Dr. Senem Kumova Metin.

102 INTERVIEWS ACROSS 7 PROVINCES

A total of 102 face-to-face interviews were conducted with representatives of institutions working in provinces previously affected by disasters: Adıyaman, Antalya, Istanbul, Izmir, Kastamonu, Muğla, and Van. In the visited provinces, participants experienced Virtual Reality (VR) simulations that recreated real disaster environments in a safe setting.

530,000 NEWS ARTICLES ANALYZED

Additionally, more than 530,000 published news articles related to earthquakes, fires, floods, landslides, avalanches, and storm/tornado disasters were analyzed using machine learning techniques. This media analysis study was awarded the ‘Best Working Paper Award’ at the CMC2025 International Conference held in Birmingham, UK. Completed as part of a TUBITAK 1001 project, the overall study emphasized that success in disaster communication is not achievable through the efforts of a single institution alone, but through a multidimensional communication approach that brings together the knowledge, experience, and perspectives of different institutions on a common ground.

DRIVEN BY THE THOUGHT OF ‘HOW CAN IT BE BETTER?’

Stating that they interviewed managers of institutions working in coordination before and after disasters, primarily AFAD (Disaster and Emergency Management Authority), Prof. Dr. Ebru Uzunoğlu said, “Due to our geography, we frequently have to struggle with different types of disasters in our country. Despite this, Türkiye is a successful country in disaster response. Our goal was to contribute to making existing disaster-related efforts faster and more sustainable, and to evaluate which practices would be more successful. We shaped our study with this understanding. Our research revealed that AFAD is the most central stakeholder in disaster communication. However, we also observed that central administration, local governments, and non-governmental organizations define and act upon the concept of effective communication in different ways. We identified that bringing these different perspectives together creates a stronger and more holistic communication capacity. Consequently, we concluded that a multidimensional approach must be adopted in disaster communication.”

“RESULTS WILL ALSO BE SHARED WITH AFAD”

Noting that Izmir Governor Süleyman Elban made great contributions to the successful completion of the project, Prof. Dr. Uzunoğlu said, “We thank the Governor for his support from the first day to the last. With his contributions, we aim to take our work to further stages. We also plan to visit Ankara soon to go to AFAD Headquarters and share the results of our project with them. Our next goal is to adapt the interdisciplinary approach we developed into a framework that can also be applied to health crises, pandemics, and other events requiring emergency response. We believe we will achieve this.”

“IT WILL PROVIDE IMPROVEMENTS”

Stating that the outputs obtained from the project will provide significant improvements in disaster management processes, Prof. Dr. Selin Türkel said, “We believe this project will make important contributions to being prepared for future disasters and increasing our resilience. Institutionalizing regular contact between organizations, meaning ensuring the continuity of communication and relationships during pre-disaster preparation phases without waiting for the moment of disaster, is crucial. Technology-supported preparation environments reflecting field realities can also be established. Alongside traditional drills, shared environments can be created using tools like VR/AR where institutions can experience disaster scenarios ahead of time. Backup communication systems can be set up for situations where the GSM network goes down. Supporting the technological literacy of field personnel also offers a major advantage. We conveyed all of these points in our report.”

“DISASTER SIMULATION WITH VR GLASSES”

Highlighting that one of the most innovative aspects of the project was the analysis of data through machine learning methods, Asst. Prof. Dr. Pınar Umul Ünsal added: “The media analysis we conducted with machine learning provided significant contributions to our work. The disaster simulations we applied with VR glasses received extremely positive feedback from participants. Moving forward from these results, we are also working on a new scientific research project aimed at increasing human interaction and gamification elements in VR applications.”