Informal education for disaster risk reduction

Our children are the future: their school buildings must be safe in the face of natural hazards and children must be empowered with an understanding of natural hazards and actions they can take to be better prepared for the next "event". With respect to natural hazards, educational institutions have dual roles of caretakers who must ensure the safety of students in their charge and teachers responsible for educating students about natural hazards. This article presents a comparative study on earthquake risk reduction efforts in primary and secondary schools, based on surveys conducted in areas of varying seismic hazard in Iceland, Italy, and Portugal. The study evaluated the degree to which local authorities were involved in the dissemination of earthquake risk and hazard mitigation information, and specifically how this information was channelled to schools. Vulnerability mitigation for school building interiors (contents) and efforts towards educating pupils towards a culture of safety were also measured. In addition the article presents the risk reduction efforts implemented in Icelandic institutions that serve groups who are especially vulnerable in emergencies and compares those efforts with the efforts made in schools.