Environmental Engineering Reference
In-Depth Information
shape such attitudes and perceptions. The recruit-
ment of experienced social scientists, including
sociologists and psychologists, in helping to better
understand how people construct risk, and their
motivations and behavioural responses to such
risk, is essential. Emotional considerations and
how they influence behavioural responses to flood
hazard comprise another important area for future
research. The emotional and psychological im-
pacts of flooding are often identified as the major
barriers to recovery, although this is also one of the
areas where past support and research has been
most lacking. Also important is the recognition of
the long-termmental health impacts and the need
for better information on those liable to suffer
such impacts in order that they can be located and
targeted for assistance.
Risks also need to be viewed in the context of
evaluations of local life and the local environment.
Experiences from Europe, Australia and the USA
indicate that 'bottom-up' flood incident strategies
are needed that are designed around detailed un-
derstanding of the socioeconomic and institution-
al characteristics of each area. Interventions are
more likely to be successful when the emphasis is
upon building local knowledge and augmenting
existing capacity. Effective FRM will only be suc-
cessful with the involvement of the public and
relevant stakeholders. Risk reduction measures
need to be tailored to the highly differentiated
risk and risk awareness levels between and within
countries; a 'one size fits all' approach will not
work. Stronger engagement of citizens in risk
management efforts should contribute to raising
risk awareness and disaster preparedness and can
enhance the acceptance of, and responsibility for,
risk reduction measures. Genuine community
involvement is likely to produce valuable and
tangible outcomes and long-term benefits; it pro-
motes understanding and ownership and enhances
commitment, withpeople learning by doing rather
than through the receipt of passive information.
Funding agencies therefore also need to channel
resilience-building support and vulnerability re-
duction efforts into education, capacity building,
psychosocial programmes and people-centred
strategies.
behaviour change. Through large-scale surveys
populations can be segmented into different
groups based upon people's values and attitudes
in an attempt tomeasure why people do what they
do. This provides a way of understanding how
to change or reinforce expectations, attitudes or
behaviours (Campaign Strategy Ltd. 2007). Under-
standing communities and their values is there-
fore crucial to future FRM and improving
stakeholder engagement. This raises non-techni-
cal communication challenges that have nothing
to do with water or floods but are about
people
.
Conclusions: New Directions for Flood
Risk Management?
As the above discussion highlights, floods and
decisions around FRM have the potential to seri-
ously impact upon the social, psychological and
physical well-being of those affected and impact
upon their social and psychological functioning.
The framework utilized in this chapter provides
a way of identifying and understanding the socio-
psychological dimensions of FRM at each stage
of the disaster cycle. From the above discussion a
number of recommendations can be drawn to
inform FRM policymakers and practitioners, in-
cluding local authorities. Table 20.1 draws out the
key points from the above discussion in relation
to the phases of the disaster cycle, and puts forward
a set of practical recommendations organized
around the key themes identified. Some of these
recommendations overlap between both issues
and the phases of the disaster cycle. In the UK
many of these suggestions are currently being
explored or implemented, particularly since the
summer 2007 floods and subsequent Pitt Review,
while others require further investigation and
action. However, FRM practitioners and policy-
makers in other countries may be able to draw
upon these suggestions and assess their relevance
in relation to their own particular circumstances
and local contexts.
A key question for policy-makers is how risk
attitudes and risk perceptions are formed, and
which means of communication impact upon and
