Risk communication films: Process, product and potential for improving preparedness and behaviour change

Abstract

The medium of film is well established for education and communication about hazardous phenomena as it provides engaging ways to directly view hazards and their impacts. Empirical analysis can help to understand films' effectiveness in informing populations at risk and catalysing action to reduce risk.Using volcanic eruptions as a focus, an evidence-based methodology was devised to create, use, and track the outcomes of digital film tools designed to raise hazard and risk awareness, and develop preparedness efforts. Experiences from two contrasting eruptions were documented, with the secondary purpose of fostering social and cultural memories of eruptions, developed in response to demand from at-risk communities during field-based research. The films were created as a partnership with local volcano monitoring scientists and at-risk populations who, consequently, became the leading focus of the films, thus offering a substantial contrast to other types of hazard communication.The films were analysed by sharing them with at-risk communities and evaluating the immediate influence on learning and affect. Results indicated that the use of local content and actors to share experiences and teach valuable lessons were inspirational. Recognizable faces and spaces helped to convey disaster risk reduction messages. They This study demonstrated the effectiveness of co-production in the design and execution of intervention strategies for volcanic risk reduction. Co-production of films with local agencies resulted in products that were contextually appropriate, meaningful for audiences, and useful risk communication tools. Acronyms

The Influence of Social Capital on Protective Action Perceptions Towards Hazardous Chemicals

“…The protective action perceptions, which refers to the perception level of individuals on taking response actions against potential hazards, was selected as the dependent variable [21]. The concept presents a comprehensive reflection of individual psychological factors and ability factors [22]. To be more specific, the psychological factors refer to the level of trust in sources of advice on relevant protective actions and professional evaluation; the ability factors refer to individual risk response knowledge, skills, and resources etc.…”

Global Mapping of Citizen Science Projects for Disaster Risk Reduction

“…On hearing the word following an earthquake, people move to higher ground (Syafwina, 2014). The 'Strengthening Resilience in Volcanic Areas' (STREVA) project created oral history films to capture community experience of volcanic eruptions in Colombia and St. Vincent and the Grenadines, which proved not only to be a cathartic act for survivors sharing their experiences on film, but also motivated audiences to consider ownership of risk and potential actions to reduce it (Hicks et al, 2017). Similarly in New Zealand, the production of a dance performance assisted the recovery of those that had been affected by the Christchurch earthquake (Egan and Quigley, 2015).…”

“…Beyond these examples, narrative could have a number of functions in relation to citizen science more broadly, and not only for DRR: (1) as a data source from which information can be extracted (Stone et al, 2014); (2) as a data object, e.g., for bonding and social connection (social capital) (Chamlee-Wright, 2017); (3) as a tool for communication e.g., storytelling (Hicks et al, 2017); (4) as a resource to challenge dominant narratives; and (5) as a tool to evaluate a project or intervention (Constant and Roberts, 2017).…”

The 1902-3 eruptions of the Soufrière, St Vincent: impacts, relief and response

“…One way to better understand volcanic risk in such settings, is to explore measures for risk reduction (whether through planning, communication or education; e.g. Barclay et al , 1998Barclay et al , , 2015Mani et al, 2016;Hicks et al, 2017). Another is to better understand the links between the physical, social and economic impacts of past hazard events; this is the focus of our paper.…”