The importance of raising risk awareness: lessons learned about risk awareness sessions from the Mediterranean region (North Morocco and West Sardinia, Italy)

Abstract

Abstract. Risk management is used in societies to mitigate the potentially dramatic effects of natural hazards. Local authorities and managers use different indicators in elaborating rescue and urbanism plans, which are not always efficient in reducing impact in the time of the crisis. This highlights society’s vulnerability in the particular context of global environmental and climate changes. This interdisciplinary research aimed at identifying reliable risk indicators and societal responses regarding natural hazards and climate change impacts, to provide a governance framework for disaster risk reduction. Different societies face diverse risks and do not necessarily have the same level of local awareness confronting them. Two sites were thus selected from the Mediterranean basin, one from the South coast (North Morocco), other from the North coast (the Italian island of Sardinia). North Morocco, the region of multi-risks, is characterized by high demographic and economic pressures; West Sardinia counts for remarkable biodiversity of wetlands and is characterized by high environmental and agricultural pressures, which in both cases intensify the vulnerability of the coastal areas. Testing for the local population’s preparedness for future financial protection showed the importance of risk awareness sessions as an indicator of risk management. The significance of risk awareness sessions is demonstrated in a quantitative part of the study with the local population, and their importance is also discussed with other stakeholders in North Morocco in a qualitative part of the study. Based on these findings, further ideas on a new series of less descriptive, more dynamic, and more user-friendly indicators are suggested. How can risk sessions be a dynamic indicator of a resilient society? The obtained results could serve in future governance frameworks for the mitigation of natural hazards in the Mediterranean region and wider. Finally, the urgent need for continuous work to overcome the communication gap between the scientific community, risk administrators, civil society and the general population is encouraged.

Frightened or familiarised? Permanent residents' and second‐home owners' risk perceptions of extreme weather events

“…In line with numerous studies (Ivčevi c et al, 2021;Roder et al, 2016), this research has proven the great significance of risk awareness as the determinant of risk perception. As mentioned, risk awareness had the greatest impact on risk perception; however, this was to a large extent complemented by the individual's direct experience of the consequences of the extreme weather (namely low to significant house/property damage caused by a storm, gale, heavy rain, hail) (Gao et al, 2020).…”

“…As stressed by Slovic and Weber (2002) regarding building risk awareness, experience works in parallel with knowledge. The latter is here understood both as the indigenous wisdom and outside information as well as its uptake (Ivčevi c et al, 2021). In this study, personal experience is considered through basic characteristics such as severity/seriousness, directness/proximity and frequency.…”

Telluric and Climate-Related Risk Awareness, and Risk Mitigation Strategies in the Azores Archipelago: First Steps for Building Societal Resilience

“…Participating in awareness-raising activities showed significant and positive correlation with the reported mitigation strategies of using public transport more often and with eating more organic food and less meat. However, although risk awareness has been shown in many studies as not being enough to implement risk mitigation strategies (as is demonstrated by the low levels of mitigation measures reported), it remains an important first step to do so and for ultimately building societal resilience, as discussed in [4]. The question that is posed is how to reduce the gap between having hazard knowledge and using this knowledge to implement precautionary behaviors?…”

“…Understanding risk perception, and particularly risk awareness, is of major importance in risk management. It can improve efficient risk communication and inform mitigation strategies to reduce vulnerability and enhance resilience [1][2][4][5]. In light of the accelerating climate change processes, a better understanding of the role that risk perception has in shaping adaptive behavior is needed in order to cope with extreme weather events and enhance societal resilience [5].…”

The influence of risk awareness and government trust on risk perception and preparedness for natural hazards

“…Awareness of the population is essential in risk management because it influences risk perception, motivating preventive behavior (Gibson, 2003;Haynes et al, 2008;Luís et al, 2016). Despite the above, few studies have conceptually differentiated risk awareness from risk perception (Bandecchi et al, 2019;Ivčević et al, 2020Ivčević et al, , 2021. In some cases, both concepts have been considered synonymous (Bradford et al, 2012;Raaijmakers et al, 2008), but risk awareness has also been measured as part of risk perception (Pagneux et al, 2011b).…”