Cyclone Resilient Landscapes. The case of Vatomandry, Madagascar

Every year, the east coast of Madagascar deals with devastating cyclones with an aftermath that renders many people suffering from water-borne diseases and malnutrition. The NGO CARE Madagascar runs a Disaster Risk Reduction Program to assist the stricken community with emergency relief and is in the process of incorporating the notion of resilience in the program. We propose the inclusion of a collaborative landscape-based design approach. We illustrate this approach for the city Vatomandry. We focus on three crucial instruments. A landscape-based collaborative design workshop that results in a joint vision on the future and an action plan. A photomontage workshop visualising their desired future to prepare for a real-life action. Thirdly, multi-scalar design experiments with generic environmental design principles to mitigate the cyclones’ impact and to
improve environmental resilience. Through these instruments, we expect the city and the people of Vatomandry to be better prepared and to recover more quickly from the annual cyclone season.