From victims to actors: The role of children and young people in flood recovery and resilience

Abstract

Following a series of recent devastating storms across England with large numbers of homes and businesses evacuated, and despite widespread consensus that further severe flooding is expected, a large section of the population continues to be excluded from developments in flood risk management. We argue that the absence of children and young people from assessments of both the effects of flooding and ways in which it can be mitigated, undermines the effectiveness and legitimacy of policy making. Drawing on in-depth participative research with two groups of flood-affected children and young people we show the range of ways in which they are affected by flooding, some ways they can be better supported, and then how their valuable experience can help shape positive change in policy and practice before, during and after floods. Children developed Flood Manifestos for Change in a direct challenge to their omission from flood governance. The Manifestos and the steps children took to advocate for them can be seen as acts of citizenship, highlighting the capacities of children and young people as flood actors, rather than flood victims.

From tale to reality: Geographical differences in children's flood‐risk perception

“…Notwithstanding, there appears not to be the same interest in studying children's risk perception from a geographical approach. Nevertheless, Mort et al (2018b) note how an approach that takes into consideration children's proactive participation is still lacking, in particular regarding flood risk. Nevertheless, Mort et al (2018b) note how an approach that takes into consideration children's proactive participation is still lacking, in particular regarding flood risk.…”

“…The importance of considering children as main actors when addressing environmental problems has been highlighted for a long time (Stephens, 1996). Some studies have aimed to give voice to children already affected by a natural disaster (Fothergill & Peek, 2015;Mort et al, 2018aMort et al, , 2018bMutch, 2015). It is therefore important to fill this gap, also considering that child-environment and adult-environment relationships have significant differences, which can be crucial in emergencies such as flood events.…”

“…The importance of considering children as main actors when addressing environmental problems has been highlighted for a long time (Stephens, 1996). Nevertheless, Mort et al (2018b) note how an approach that takes into consideration children's proactive participation is still lacking, in particular regarding flood risk. It is therefore important to fill this gap, also considering that child-environment and adult-environment relationships have significant differences, which can be crucial in emergencies such as flood events.…”

“…This information will be useful for management planning for better floodrisk reduction, aiming to take into account proactive participation from children, information which is still lacking to date, as underlined by Delicado et al (2017) and Mort et al (2018b). We assumed that children would answer by communicating their most impulsive behaviour, while imagining experiencing the situation described in the fictional story.…”

“…Results from the study provided information about the possible behaviour of children in case of emergency, directly expressed by them, and also explored geographical differences between the study areas. This information will be useful for management planning for better floodrisk reduction, aiming to take into account proactive participation from children, information which is still lacking to date, as underlined by Delicado et al (2017) and Mort et al (2018b).…”