DOI: 10.17603/ds2-12f4-fz55
title: Participatory Asset Mapping Research Documents
title: in Building State Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOAD) Capacities to Protect Children in Emergencies: An Evaluation Research Project

description: Between 2018 and 2020, the Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder conducted an evaluation entitled: Building State Voluntary Organizations Active in Disaster (VOADs) Capacities to Protect Children in Emergencies. This project was designed to assess the capacity of state-level VOADs to address children’s needs before, during, and after disasters. This project involved multi-method research in the focal states of Arkansas and Nebraska and in collaboration with members of VOADs, emergency management, Save the Children, and other child-serving organizations in both states. The evaluation team conducted participatory engagement exercises, survey research, secondary data analysis and GIS mapping, and an interorganizational network analysis survey. This project includes research instruments and the final reports produced as part of this project. The envisioned audience for these materials includes researchers, emergency managers, and professionals who work for child-serving organizations.
description: Participatory asset mapping activities were used in both Arkansas and Nebraska to gain an understanding of existing organization-based assets and areas for improvement in the context of emergency preparedness. The main goals of the mapping activities that the Natural Hazards Center team led in Arkansas and Nebraska included: (1) Identifying organizational strengths, capacities, skills, and resources within organizations generally and for children in disasters specifically; (2) Deciphering organizations’ limitations and gaps both generally and in providing support for children in disasters; and (3) Facilitating potential cooperation between and among organizations by generating a shared awareness and understanding of organizations’ collective assets and areas for improvement. Our team constructed and facilitated a participatory asset mapping activity that was conducted during the two facilitated sessions held on December 10, 2018 in Lincoln, Nebraska and December 13, 2018 in Little Rock, Arkansas, and hosted by Save the Children for the Building Capacities to Protect Children Project. Participants in both states included individuals from state-level VOAD member organizations, community-based organizations, emergency management, and partners that provide services for children during disasters and emergencies. A total of 16 individuals participated in Arkansas, and 12 in Nebraska. This publication includes the verbal consent form, participatory asset mapping guidance document, and organizational asset mapping worksheets. The participatory asset mapping facilitator’s guide provides step-by-step instructions for individuals interested in conducting participatory asset mapping. This can be adapted to fit other research and evaluation objectives. The participatory asset mapping protocol was used to facilitate the participatory asset mapping activities among Arkansas and Nebraska VOAD participants and organizational partners in Little Rock Arkansas, and Lincoln, Nebraska, respectively. The organizational worksheets were used for conducting the participatory asset mapping activities in Arkansas and Nebraska and can easily be adapted for use in other contexts or organizational types.