Teddy Hall DPhil Student working with the Government of St. Lucia

As part of a collaboration between the University of Oxford and the United Nations Office for Project Services, Lena Fuldauer (2018, DPhil Geography & the Environment) is working with the government of St. Lucia in order to implement cross-ministerial infrastructure systems planning.

Lena is spatially modelling the island’s climate change hazards – including hurricanes, cyclones, landslides or storm surges – as to identify cascading socio-economic impacts. The types of systems models Lena is developing for the country provide evidence of where limited resources are best spent to improve sustainable development outcomes whilst reducing climate change impacts.

These models build upon the Oxford team’s previous analysis in the island ‘Curacao’. The Oxford team was invited to present insights from these models at a high-level event in St. Lucia in April 2019, which was attended by the country’s prime minister, various government ministries and embassies.

During her time in St. Lucia, Lena has also conducted modelling training workshops for the country’s National Integrated Planning and Programme Unit (NIPP), based in the Ministry of Finance. This capacity-building will be sustained as she progresses throughout her DPhil, co-developing the modelling together with a range of in-country stakeholders to provide legacy of the work. 

More information on the NIPP Unit can be viewed here.

Local Press:

http://www.govt.lc/news/nipp-unit-launched

https://thevoiceslu.com/2019/04/unit-to-coordinate-countrys-infrastructure-launched/

http://www.loopslu.com/content/nipp-links-infrastructure-development-economic-growth

https://www.stlucianewsonline.com/national-integrated-planning-and-programme-unit/