Place-Based Citizen Science for Assessing Risk Perception and Coping Capacity of Households Affected by Multiple Hazards

Abstract

Since hazards act upon vulnerability and exposure to become disasters, the understanding of societal challenges is key for disaster risk reduction. This condition is even more critical when more than one hazard is in place. Taking the case of flooding and water shortage, this study is built upon the premise that disasters are a social phenomenon; therefore, it is essential to comprehend the social context in which they occur. Particularly, this study aims to evaluate the similarities and differences in risk perception and the coping capacity of residents in the multiple-hazard context. For this, a place-based citizen science approach was developed in this study in Campina Grande, a semiarid region of Brazil, with the collaboration of 199 participants. Risk perception and coping capacity were analysed through the citizens’ participation, while combining subjective and objective methods. The results indicate that even though residents have experienced severe flooding and water shortages in the past, they still have low coping capacity. The findings highlight the need to combine a triad of societal challenges, namely information, trust, and incentives, to improve coping capacity in the future and increase resilience. This study underlines the need to understand multiple hazards according to social, spatial, and temporal scales in a socio-spatial perspective.

Understanding the NEEDS for ACTING: An integrated framework for applying nature-based solutions in Brazil

“…The tool starts by defining the socio-spatial context wherein disasters take place. The social-spatial context refers to understanding disasters with social, spatial, and temporal views (Alves et al 2020a). This is from the assumption that the location in which the hazard will occur may change according to its' nature (Ruiter et al 2020).…”

“…For example, floods might occur in specific areas of the city (buildings or streets) at some day in a year (or weeks, months, years), but the entire city will rarely be exposed at once. However, in case of a water shortage, whole neighbourhoods and catchments are frequently exposed for many days, weeks, and even years (i.e., see more details in Alves et al (2020a)). When hazards reach the most vulnerable areas, the impact produced will likely be exacerbated.…”

“…The development of P1 and P2 includes the identification and contact with stakeholders, historical analysis of legislation, and the definition of factors influencing societal challenges such as risk perception and coping capacity with objective tools (i.e., more details in Alves et al (2020a)) (Figure 1). At these phases, citizens, specialists, and authorities are listened to define the critical societal challenges, especially for discussing which resources society needs to adapt to the extreme events.…”

“…• In 2019, 199 stakeholders (i.e., 172 citizens and 27 policymakers and specialists) participated in the project. Collaboration strategies such as surveys, interviews, workshops, and meetings were developed to define the context, societal challenges and for mapping the needs of the city (i.e., more details in Alves et al (2020aAlves et al ( , 2021).…”

“…Each zone has water available on different days, making the entire city exposed to the hazard (Del Grande et al 2016). The context is different from FR since only parts of the city are exposed to a stormwater event that might reduce the preference for acquiring the flood reduction benefit (i.e., see more details about the socio-spatial context in Alves et al (2020a)).…”