Open Access
Seismic risk communication: let’s students show their own way
Author(s) -
Giovanna Lucia Piangiamore,
S. Falsaperla,
Elena Eva,
Gemma Musacchio
Publication year - 2020
Publication title -
annals of geophysics
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.394
H-Index - 60
eISSN - 2037-416X
pISSN - 1593-5213
DOI - 10.4401/ag-8396
Subject(s) - contest , preparedness , risk communication , vulnerability (computing) , seismic risk , public relations , variety (cybernetics) , commission , intervention (counseling) , risk management , resilience (materials science) , psychology , business , engineering , political science , computer security , risk analysis (engineering) , computer science , civil engineering , finance , artificial intelligence , psychiatry , law , physics , thermodynamics
Risk communication has been playing an increasing role in modern society and in our lives. Normally framed to prompt reduction of vulnerability to hazards, it tackles issues ranging from prevention to preparedness and addresses a variety of stakeholders, each with a specific role within a community. However, the way to have the most effective risk communication in the long run is to engage young people: they seed the roots that shape future, increase the potential impact of risk mitigation and help build community resilience. This is the vision that drives the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) intervention in the field of seismic risk education. The “Are you taking too many risks?” was a school contest that INGV carried out for the schools involved in the risk communication campaign “Know your school: be safe!” of the project KnowRISK (Know your city, Reduce seISmic risK through non-structural elements) funded by the European Commission DG-ECHO. Students, within a framework of cooperative learning, were asked to develop risk communication tools, being their peers the target public. It was an experiment of public engagement in risk communication that allowed young people to express their point of view and the way they would discuss and approach risks. Cartoons, animated drawings, interviews, and videos showed the way students see risk mitigation, in the age of parkour. The details of each students’ product are a lesson learned to shape risk communication campaigns in the future.