Natural disasters and their consequences dominate the news almost on a daily basis. Quick - impact preventive and aid measures are essential for the victims to survive. This volume presents a selection of projects which demonstrate impressively how both cutt ing - edge technology and locally available materials and resources can be used for this purpose. Government - backed aid programmes are often too slow to be immediate effective in natural disasters. Hence, 3.5 Square Meters explores how individuals and commu nities can unbureaucratically overcome such extreme situations using a bottom - up approach. Key approaches this book introduces in dedicated chapters include Sharing Knowledge, Social Technology, Story Telling and DIY. Presented are individual projects by N GOs and specialists such as engineers, architects, designers, computer scientists and social activists. Transfer of knowledge and communication are essential, as this publication demonstrates, and result in varied and novel solutions.