SCARER - Risk Communication and engagement for societal resilience

Abstract:

The recent COVID-19 pandemic made explicit the issues of risk communication. But the pandemics are not the only challenge that awaits humankind. Climate change may lead to increases in rainstorms with increased risks of fluvial and surface flooding or, on the contrary, to long periods of drought-producing water shortage. The morphological and hydrogeological characteristics of the Italian territory make it subject to breakdowns and frequent floods.
Our project will explore the implications of a changing climate to the challenges associated with managing the risks of flooding and drought and the effects of climate change on water risk in urban, rural, and mountainous communities. The project will consider the history of water disasters and, through approaches to public consultation, will investigate adaptation and mitigation as social practice and community resilience development, as well as communication actions and information to improve our knowledge and readiness for managing flooding and drought in the short and long term. To do it, one of the fundamental communication challenges of our time is to provide the public with scientific reliable content, and contrasting misinformation. In a knowledge-based society, taking part in disaster resilience actions also means addressing disaster resilience communication, particularly the people’s involvement in public discourses regarding hazards risks, and disasters.
With the increased importance of resilience in modern approaches to water risk management, the SCARER project will adopt an innovative methodology based on historical and social sciences that incorporates the complexities of social context and human behavior. The past and present hazard behavior is a promising guide to the future incidence of water risks.
SCARER aims to strengthen the resilience of Italian citizens against natural and human-made disasters through multi-stakeholder engagement, having into consideration these emerging risks and associated major trends. We will attain this aim through the analysis, both from a historical and a sociological point of view, of people’s knowledge of their territory and its fragilities, their perception of natural risks in relation to climate change, their attitude to water risk and its mitigation. This analysis will be matched with the investigation of past and present models and practice of risk management by the involved institutions, and especially their communication strategies to minimize the risk.
Gathering information about public understanding of risk, use of risk information through media, trust in experts and institutions, and attitudes towards climate change has the potential to contribute significantly to a better design of both communication strategies in the event of disasters and resilience plans to deal with them.

Risultati Attesi:

Il progetto SCARER si propone di rafforzare la resilienza dei cittadini italiani di fronte ai rischi idrici, in particolare alle alluvioni. Attraverso un approccio interdisciplinare che integra scienze storiche e sociali, analizzerà la percezione del rischio da parte della popolazione e le strategie di comunicazione adottate dalle istituzioni preposte alla gestione del rischio. I risultati attesi includono una maggiore comprensione del ruolo della comunicazione nella costruzione della resilienza, nonché lo sviluppo di linee guida per migliorare la partecipazione pubblica e la qualità dell’informazione nella gestione delle emergenze.

Dettagli progetto:

Referente scientifico: Bresadola Marco

Fonte di finanziamento: Bando PRIN 2022 PNRR

Data di avvio: 30/11/2023

Data di fine: 30/11/2025

Contributo MUR: 107.405 €

Web site: https://sites.google.com/unife.it/laboratoriodos/ricerca/progetti-in-corso/scarer

Partner:

Università degli Studi di FERRARA (capofila)
Università degli Studi di BOLOGNA
Università degli Studi di TRENTO