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Although both improved risk communication and the building of social capacities have been advocated as vital ways to increase societies' resilience towards natural hazards across the world, the literature has rarely examined the ways in which these two concepts may integrate in theory and practice. This paper is an attempt to address this gap in a European context. It begins with a conceptual discussion that unites the literature on risk communication with the literature on social capacity building. We then use the insights from this discussion as a basis to conduct a review of 60 risk communication practices from across Europe. This review indicates a gap between theory and practice because, whilst the literature highlights the importance of integrated and coordinated communication campaigns featuring both a one-way transfer and a two-way dialogue between the public, stakeholders and decision-makers, the majority of the communication practices reviewed here appear to be relatively disparate initiatives that rely on one-way forms of communication. On the basis of these findings, we conclude by making some recommendations for the way in which such practices could be improved in order to be more supportive of social capacities across Europe. Keywords Risk communication Á Capacity building Á Participation Á Warning Á PreventionElectronic supplementary material The online version of this article

One of the biggest challenges faced by Sierra Leonean farmers is pest control. Birds, rodents, insects, crustaceans and other organisms can drastically reduce yields. In order to prevent these organisms from destroying their crop, farmers use pesticides. However there are reports that these chemicals are being misused and such misuse is having a negative impact on the environment and the health of the farmers. This research study aimed to investigate the use of pesticides in rice fields and its potential effects on the environment and on the farmers of Sierra Leone. Five hundred farmers and one hundred health workers across the country were interviewed. Fifty focus group discussions were also completed. Field observations were also undertaken to see how farmers apply pesticides to their farms and the possible threats these methods have on human health and the environment. It is clear that a wide range of pesticides are used by rice farmers in Sierra Leone with 60% of the pesticides used entering the country illegally. Most farmers have no knowledge about the safe handling of pesticides as 71% of them have never received any form of training. The pesticides kill both target and non-target organisms some of which enter the food chain. Cases of health problems such as nausea, respiratory disorders and blurred vision investigated in this research are significantly higher among farmers who use pesticides than those who do not use pesticides. Cases of pesticide intoxication are not investigated by health workers but results obtained from interviews with them also indicated that cases of pesticides related symptoms are significantly higher in environments where pesticides are used than those in which pesticides are not used.

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Learning to live with flood requires learning to manage flood recovery. While in the United Kingdom much attention has been given to improving preparedness to flood events – from more sophisticated warning systems to the development of flood event planning – we bring attention to in‐depth research on the processes of recovery and the challenges of addressing what we call the flood ‘recovery gap’. A growing body of research has documented the social, economic and health impacts of flooding, and the relationship between social and physical parameters of community resilience and preparedness. However, there remains a dearth of understanding about the processes people go through in recovering from flood disasters in the United Kingdom and the ways in which improving the experience of recovery can enhance resilience. Indeed, because resilience is defined in part by the time it takes to recover, it is imperative that more effective recovery is established. This article reports on the findings of a real‐time longitudinal study using an action research model to document and understand the everyday experiences of individuals following the floods of June 2007 in Hull. We argue that recovery involves a more varied process than is assumed within current accounts, one which falls between institutional boundaries. We conclude with suggestions for addressing the ‘recovery gap’.

The growing body of literature that seeks to understand the social impacts of flooding has failed to recognise the value of children's knowledge. Working with a group of floodaffected children in Hull using a storyboard methodology this paper argues that the children have specific flood experiences that need to be understood in their own right. In this paper we consider the ways in which the disruption caused by the flood revealed and produced new -and sometimes hidden -vulnerabilities and forms of resilience and we reflect on the ways in which paying attention to children's perspectives enhances our understanding of resilience.

In this paper we approach flooding as a socio-natural-technical assemblage, a phenomenon that comes into being in relation to the spaces that 'bad water'occupies. We use the case of the major flood in the city of Hull (UK) in June 2007, and the accounts of those who experienced it, to follow the water of the flood into homes and household spaces. We find that the spatial and temporal occurrence of the flood is not simply known and definable, but is instead emergent in specific local contexts. We show how the assemblage of the flood ean be understood at different resolutions, moving from the flood as a eity event; to the street-level processes and interventions whieh shaped how water flowed locally; and into the detail and materiality of the home, its transgression by water, and the process of the home becoming a flooded space. Through the analysis of data from two parallel projects examining the experiences of adults and children after the June 2007 event, we show that the boundaries of the flood remained open and contested, their spatial and temporal definition fuzzy and socially complex. Implieations are explored in relation to the processes embroiled in producing flood status and the consequences for the actors involved. Wider conclusions for understanding the experience of disaster are also drawn.

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