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Citizen science for disaster risk reduction (DRR) holds huge promise and has demonstrated success in advancing scientific knowledge, providing early warning of hazards, and contributed to the assessment and management of impacts. While many existing studies focus on the performance of specific citizen science examples, this paper goes beyond this approach to present a systematic global mapping of citizen science used for DRR in order to draw out broader insights across diverse methods, initiatives, hazards and country contexts. The systematic mapping analyzed a total of 106 cases of citizen science applied to DRR across all continents. Unlike many existing reviews of citizen science initiatives, relevance to the disaster risk context led us to 'open up' our mapping to a broader definition of what might constitute citizen science, including participatory research and narrative-based approaches. By taking a wider view of citizen science and opening up to other disciplinary practices as valid ways of knowing risks and hazards, we also capture these alternative examples and discuss their relevance for aiding effective decision-making around risk reduction. Based on this analysis we draw out lessons for future research and practice of citizen science for DRR including the need to: build interconnections between disparate citizen science methods and practitioners; address multi-dimensionality within and across hazard cycles; and develop principles and frameworks for evaluating citizen science initiatives that not only ensure scientific competence but also attend to questions of equity, responsibility and the empowerment of those most vulnerable to disaster risk.

The post-disaster period is critical for reducing vulnerability and building resilience. Social capital plays an important role in generating and maintaining risk reducing behaviour and a rich evidence base demonstrating its contribution to the recovery process exists. Yet, so far little distinction has been made between the different types of social capital, despite important variations of outcomes. To address this gap, this article examines the evolving roles of specific forms of social capital on the long-term post-disaster recovery process. We explore the disaster recovery process on the active volcanic island of Montserrat in the Caribbean, marked by rapid and intense post-disaster demographic change following the beginning of the eruption in 1995. We explore the challenges of the shift from a relatively homogenous to a relatively diverse population for building a resilient society. Our investigation illustrates the complexity of the recovery process and the coexistence of conflicting objectives which, if poorly managed, can create new forms of vulnerability and impede the sustainability of the development process. We argue that not all forms of social capital development are beneficial for the long-term recovery process. In a diversifying society, bonding social capital may have perverse effect while bridging and linking social capital may be key for building social cohesion, a key contributor to sustainable development. We argue that measures for redevelopment should be sensitive to the long-term effects of different forms of social capital, in particular their consequences for building social cohesion, a key contributor to sustainable recovery in a dynamically changing society.

A forensic analysis of fatalities and displacements from recent volcanic eruptions (1986-2015) provides insights into factors that influence actions to protect life in high-risk environments. Unlike many other geophysical hazard events, volcanic eruptions may be prolonged, and of variable intensity. This is reflected in patterns of volcanic fatalities. A global survey reveals that 63% of primary volcanic deaths occur after the first week of activity, with >44% of these deaths associated with citizens returning to an established high-hazard zone. Evacuations during volcanic eruptions are protracted and this allows time for competing pressures to arise. Examination of detailed data from three volcanic crises (La Soufriere, St Vincent and the Grenadines, Soufrière Hills, Montserrat and Tungurahua, Ecuador) suggests that the need to preserve livelihoods plays a strong role in protecting life. A dynamic, associated with pull (e.g., protecting assets, place attachment) and push factors (e.g., poor shelter conditions), can draw evacuees to return during high-risk periods. Similar considerations can restrain people with previous experience of volcanic hazards and displacement, from evacuating. Our global analysis shows that these pressures, when coupled with forecasting uncertainties and the rapid landscape change associated with volcanic eruptions, mean that the physical and social vulnerability of populations change significantly during the course of an eruption. Ongoing risk to life is shaped by hazard experience and action; timescales of hazard escalation and their relationship to warning and action; and the timescales over which evacuation conditions are tolerable to livelihood and asset preservation, and mental and physical wellbeing in shelters.