Towards a Culture of Prevention: Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at School: Good Practices and Lessons Learned
Valency, R. Alain and Lazarte, Jimena (eds.) (2007).
Geneva, Switzerland: United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction; 143 pages. $Free.
In 2006 and 2007, the United Nations began their World Disaster Reduction Campaign entitled “Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at School,” with a focus on school safety and promoting risk reduction in the classroom as well as making schools and education buildings safer. This report compiles the efforts of 29 countries across North and South America, Europe, and Asia into three main sections and 38 short, three-to-five page case studies. The essence of this report is to develop “resilience in schools and through schools” (vii). Following the growing attention to children in disasters, this report helps to emphasize the ongoing efforts of these countries and their efforts to reduce the vulnerability of children around the world.
The first section of the report focuses on raising awareness in schools and their communities. Each case study outlines the initiative, notes its impact and results, highlights the reasons why it is a good practice, reveals the lessons learned, and suggests potentials for replication. Among the more creative endeavors, the island country of Grenada holds an intramural quiz competition among the primary schools to test students' knowledge of disaster preparedness during their “National Disaster Awareness Week” (12). The event builds up from the classroom level as students engage in activities and games (including the board game, Riskland) that are tailored to their local hazards. In Thailand, school children serve as “catalysts” through child-led activities that help identify risks and hazards in their own communities (37). In these case studies, as in many in the report, children are placed in an active role rather than a passive one to empower them with disaster knowledge and skills; as noted in the India case study, “children can be the most effective tool” (119).
The second section is dedicated to countries that have developed a “culture of prevention” not only among children, but also older youths, parents, educators, and the community at large. Among the case studies presented in this section, France has inducted more than 600 students into their “risk ambassadors” program, which teaches students to share their knowledge beyond the classroom and into the community (62). Costa Rica offers the example of a program that has been sustained for more than 20 years. The short summary provides an overview of the various phases that have led to the continued execution of the program since 1986 and participation by more than 500,000 students annually (52).
The third section of the report highlights various physical efforts to increase the structural integrity of school buildings. This short section largely describes retrofitting plans, but does discuss the dual use of schools as shelters in Central America and the efforts in Nepal to educate masons to build structures that are more hazard-resistant.
Among the challenges faced by these countries, there are several emerging themes, including vertical integration (from the classroom level to the national level), community recognition, and the simple motivation that is required for schools to adopt risk reduction measures. One essential element that seems apparent is the necessity to ensure cooperation at all levels. Whether they are top-down policy initiatives or locally generated ideas, many of the successful and broad reaching programs are integrated at all levels. Despite the numerous cases presented in this report, there were some excluded countries from which case studies would have provided valuable insight, including New Zealand’s ongoing management of diverse hazards and Pakistan’s experience in the 2005 Kashmir earthquake. Other exclusions include the lack of discussion related to technological, biological, and radiological risks in countries around the world and sufficient attention to simple infrastructure improvements (such as phone lines in Jamaica, which is mentioned in the report) that can significantly decrease risk.
Among the critiques of this report is its lack of detail, which is a limitation of the report itself rather than the efforts undertaken by these countries. Consequently, it is difficult to understand how effective these efforts really are. Several case studies (Indonesia, Madagascar, and Vietnam) note the impact of the efforts, but many are untested in the face of disaster. Also, the report largely neglects to mention the costs of these projects, and their potential for replication is left to an obligatory note of possibility. Further, while the second section of the report is intended to present how localities developed a culture of prevention, in actuality the section is simply an extension of the first section and the various activities it describes. Overall, this report provides a quick snapshot of these various projects, although it is apparent that their depth and degree of integration differs. Finally, the report remains tightly focused on prevention with little mention of recovery, the social-psychological impacts of events on children, or the key role schools play in restoring the social capital of a community.
Regardless, this report brings attention and insight into ongoing international risk reduction efforts. It offers a cross-cultural review for researchers and policy makers to help identify efforts underway and the distance still to cover in educating, protecting, and preventing loss of life among disasters’ youngest victims. It does not only help identify the gaps in knowledge and practice and work to be done, but also offers areas in which hazards and disaster research can inform. Many of these reports are encouraging, but they serve as a reminder of how far we still have to go to reduce the risks of younger generations. For anyone interested in international research related to children and disasters, this report is a necessary primer of current efforts.
UN/ISDR-11-2007-Geneva. Available from: http://www.unisdr.org/eng/public_aware/world_camp/2006-2007/good-practices-en.htm.
Reviewer Information
University of Colorado at Boulder
Christine Bevc is currently working towards her Ph.D. in Sociology at the University of Colorado (Boulder), where she serves as a graduate research assistant at the Natural Hazards Center. She received her Master's Degree in Applied Sociology from the University of Central Florida (Orlando). Her research interests include the interplay between environment and society, specifically the interaction of multiorganizational networks through the various phases of hazards and disasters.