Edu4DRR

I'm still LOVING this video - Great way to capture attention of 'bored' public on flights

2011-05-25T09:16:00.002Z

Watch the Flight Attendants suddenly burst into a dance!!! Great way to catch attention of bored travellers. This video has been watched 9 million times on youtube, and yes there is even an all male version as well! Which can be seen at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FnOfFma6p88 As a matter of interest I have taken part in an earthquake dance in Japan...If I get enough interests I might upload it!

Zombie Preparedness! An effort to get people thinking about emergencies differently!

2011-05-25T09:03:00.003Z

In an effort to highlight emergency preparedness in general, the US Centre for Disease Control has set up a page offering advice about what to do in case of a zombie attack, which is of course being tweeted about and written about in blogs such as this one as well as zooming around the Twitterverse! I think it is a great idea as it gets people talking and reading and is really about preparing emergency kits for the home! Kudos to the CDC for attempting a novel way of engaging those who may not think about emergency preparedness normally!

Educational Resource of the Week!

2011-05-16T09:07:00.001Z

Here is a great resource I found on Save the Children Website. It is also available in Thai, where it was carried out as an education project and would certainly be a lot of fun to carry out with very young children who make puppet shows as well as maps and go-bags and seems to be a great way of involving the whole community in being better prepared!

It revolves around an alert rabbit who mistakenly takes a tsunami test warning to be the real thing and panics others in his community. After the village head hears o this it is decided to hold a meeting and preparedness is discussed and practiced!

Alert Rabbit information and story: Alert_Rabbit_part1.pdf

>> Resources for the classroom: Alert_Rabbit_part2.pdf

>> Info, story and resources in Thai (on external website) Thai Resources

Cyclone Yasi - Advice for kids and families

2011-02-02T13:00:00.002Z

For Younger children:

You may have to leave your house during a disaster and may sleep somewhere else for a while. It’s smart to put together your own Kid’s Activity Survival Kit so you will have things to do and share with other kids. These can all be stored in a backpack or duffel bag. Just make sure you can carry it easily. Some suggested items for your Activity Survival Kit:

A few of your favorite books

Crayons, pencils or marking pens and plenty of paper

Scissors and glue

Two favorite toys such as a doll or action figure

One or two board games

A deck of cards

A puzzle (One with lots of pieces is good -- it takes a long time to do!)

Small people figures and play vehicles that you can use to play out what is happening during your disaster -- such as ambulance, fire truck, helicopter, dump truck, police car, small boats.

Favorite stuffed animal or puppet

Favorite blanket or pillow

Pictures of the family and pet

A "keep safe" box with a few treasures that make you feel special.

Parents

Ensure that you talk to you children about what is happening, reassuring them about what is happening and keep an eye out for children becoming withdrawn or over-anxious. Children may experience separation anxiety (this includes teenagers) so open communication is really important.

Best Road Safety Ad? Opportunities for simple DRR messages too, I think!

2010-07-22T17:42:00.003Z

This video from Sussex road safety which has won many awards and was designed to be understood without words. The films creator adds, “Key to the film's creation was to focus on a message that didn't take a conventional route to shock and scare the audience; rather it was my intention to bring the audience in on the conversation of road safety, specifically seat belts, and the best way to do this was to make a film that could engage the viewer purely visually and could be seen and understood by all, whoever they are and wherever they lived."

The question for ALL of us, is what can we achieve on a similar level for DRR. Do we need to simplify the message and allow for slow and steady adoption of personal DRR, rather than attempting large catch-all programs? Behavioural psychologists will tell you that this is a more likely approach? So what do you think? Please watch and add comments.

Hunza River Disaster

2010-06-21T08:41:00.001Z

Check out this SlideShare Presentation:

Hunza River Disaster

View more presentations from edu4drr.

Global Facebook Users Generous Texters for Haiti, but Unprepared Themselves - how do we change this?

2010-03-07T12:07:00.002Z

Despite the 500,000 or so members on facebook disaster relief site a recent survey of users found that many are not prepared themselves for a disaster - something that educators and researchers are seeking to understand and change. The link to the survey is:
http://blog.nielsen.com/nielsenwire/online_mobile/survey-global-facebook-users-generous-texters-for-haiti-but-unprepared-themselves/

What is interesting is the generosity of many and the critical mass of people that donated and want to support others in times of crises, while their own 'concept of unique invulnerability' means that they don't do something for themselves in terms of preparedness. Of course this is only a simplified supposition and I am aware that there may be a range of complex reasons for lack of preparation, but understanding that simple cost effective actions can be taken by everyone is not complicated. If there is a will there is a way, as they say (see this video http://edu4drr.ning.com/video/whats-up-your-crutch?xg_source=activity ) - but creating the will is our biggest challenge!

Please reply and let us change this situation together!

n never rains in sunny California, but when an earthquake happens adults still do the wrong thing

2010-02-12T09:19:00.000Z

Last week I posted a video on this site from Governor Schwarznegger that talked about the earthquake that occurred in the town of Eureka, California in which he talked about adults doing the wrong thing by running outside, while children did the right thing by ducking under heavy furniture and hiding on until the shaking stopped. In this day of instant news and eye-witness report, the following eye-witness piece on CNN iReport website appeared:

I was on my lunch break when it hit. I was talking to a few friends who worked in mall (Bayshore Mall), felt a tiny tremor and then all of a sudden the lights were flickering and the building started shaking. All I remember hearing was a long loud rumbling noise and everything falling off the shelves and yelling (not screaming in terror yet kind of yelling.)

The floor was like water (knowing that it was solid concrete beneath me.) and the walls and the windows were moving like jello and everything around us was shaking and literally moving up and down with the feeling of empty space from where my hand originally was on the counter.

All I could think about after the moment that seemed like 30 seconds.. was I needed to get back to my store and help my coworkers and of course my roomie at home with my laptop,

I had to walk outside even though I wanted to run, noticed alot of shards of glass and store merchandise on the ground from other stores in the mall.

The moment I got outside though, hightailed it back to the enterance of my store.

I noticed and glanced around while running, that nearly all of the people either were crying or scared or both (natural human instincts of course) and some others were in shock and yet helping others out.

I got to my store, helped ushering the customers out, we had a lost little boy and I stayed with him until his mom showed up.

Next thing I knew, the staff and I did a quick search of everything in the store to make sure that no customers was in there and we got ourselves out. Did a head count and just waited until the mall traffic was gone.

Of course while we were all waiting, did a round of hugs and making sure we were all OKAY, called up our General Mgr and the everyone else who was suppose to come in, called our loved ones and dear friends to make sure everything is okay.

The traffic going out from the mall was backed up and horrible.

I know an earthquake isnt like a block party but you know I ended up taking pictures anyway of it.. and its my first ever huge earthquake and I survived it.

Can you spot what she did wrong? How many things did she do wrong? I would like to know what you think and why. More importantly, how can we change this behaviour? There have now been two Shake-out drills in Southern California, but is the message still not getting through to everyone across the state? How can we achieve this through education (both formal and informal) is an important question and one in which I invite you to help answer!

Poster Presentation to UCL conference on DRR - Drills as part of experiential learning cycle for DRR education – A bureaucratic exercise or learning

2010-02-12T09:17:00.001Z

The Great Southern California ShakeOut of November 2008 featured the largest earthquake drill in U.S. history. Involving 5.3 million participants the drill took place in homes, businesses, schools, places of worship and communities across California with an estimated 3.3 million school children involved. As part of an international observation team put together by RiskRed three schools were observed taking part. This paper Poster Presentation focuses on a high school in Burbank, Los Angles, California, comparing it with a drill observed in an elementary school in Taiwan in May 2009 in an effort to highlight good practice while examining how the drill could be integrated into wider disaster prevention education, before during and after the event. It is argued that the current practice of isolated and abstract exercises without reflection and action by students does not help them to become better prepared now or in the future as adults.
The presentation can be viewed in pdf form by clicking the link here:

ucl_poster_sharpe_1.pdf

You can lead a horse to water but...

2009-03-25T18:03:00.002Z

I am currently writing a paper for a disaster prevention in education conference in Taiwan and so have been researching about new curriculum in general, alongside curriculum materials. What is becoming clear is that although there is an ever growing proliferation of educational materials, made to address different facets of a range of hazards and responses, this will not lead to education that helps people make changes to their lifestyles to become better prepared. This is for several reasons.

Firstly even if you 'train' teachers or provide INSET, unless they are engaged and think it is important, they will do what they need to do to tick boxes and perhaps nothing more.

Secondly you need to have everyone on board and wanting the same outcomes, which means that these outcomes need to be WRITTEN DOWN and agreed upon by all the agencies involved in creating the curriculum.

Thirdly, these outcomes need to be broken down and specified for EACH part or lesson in the scheme of work, so 'what Im a looking for...' and 'we are learning to...' type statements that can be answered and built upon each time.

Fourthly, that having lesson plans and a 'scheme of work is not enough to engage teachers. They want a range of resources that they can pool from (more often using the internet) which offer a range of film clips, photo-slideshows, mystery exercises, diamond nine thinking skills, maps etc that can be used in the way that best suits the individual needs of both the teacher and the class. This means that writing frames and differentiated worksheets and activity sheets will need to be produced. Also by offering a range of resources in this way the individual learning styles of students can be attended to (kinaesthetic, visual, audio etc), while also allowing the teacher to remain a creative force in the classroom while allowing his/her students to develop a better understanding of the ideas and concepts that disaster prevention education wants to get across.

And finally (for now anyway) it is important that students and teachers feel a sense of achievement about what they have been through together. That BOTH students AND teachers not only understand and are aware of the dangers in their community but that they are both prepared mentally and physically. By this I mean having and emergency go-bag, learning first aid and knowing what there role is and more importantly, how to perform it in the event of an emergency either at school or in their community.

I have tried to provide a flavour of this on this site under the curriculum section. Although I used this in the school I work in does not mean that you would want to take the entirety of it for your school and indeed it would not be suitable for every age group or every part of the world. However I am doing what I can. The aim of this network is that we all do what we can but also SHARE this practice with others.

Take my quiz if you dare!

2008-12-31T17:48:00.003Z

Below is my new multi-hazard quiz using youtube clips of hazards to test your knowledge..careful, some are times so no cheating!!

multi-hazard_quiz

This clip of flooding should be shown as a "Do's & Don'ts" for floods in UK

2008-12-14T13:56:00.001Z

I saw his on the BBC news site this morning...Can you spot where people have concreted EVERYWHERE and then try to drive through the floods only to get stranded....Education also needs to reach adults!

http://news.bbc.co.uk/1/hi/uk/7781388.stm

Have the Pitt Review people seen this by the way? This is a REALLY useful way of showing how flooding can be exacerbated by making the wrong decisions, from concreting your 'garden' to driving through flooded areas only to need 'rescuing'. This is also a great resource for educators and teachers. Show it to your students and then ask them to spot why some people were flooded more severely than others

FEMA Launches Children-In-Disasters Initiative With IAEM, Save The Children but misses the point

2008-11-18T13:29:00.001Z

An initiative to beintroduced by FEMA and Save the children to reduce their vulnerabilities in the event of a disaster has been launched, but fails to really hit the mark in my opinion. An extract published below from the press statement sounds rather grand, but is disappointing as it does not recognise the capacities of children in any way:

WASHINGTON, D.C. -- The Department of Homeland Security's Federal Emergency
Management Agency (FEMA) is teaming up with the International Association of
Emergency Managers (IAEM), Save the Children Foundation and the American Red
Cross to launch an initiative that will enable the emergency management
community to better address the needs of children in disasters.

"This initiative will involve concrete steps to focus attention on the needs
of children in disasters and help the emergency management community address
children's special needs in the emergency planning process," FEMA
Administrator Paulison said. "Although this initiative is a
work-in-progress, we're committed to a course of action that involves
assessing and adjusting disaster response services for children."

The course will be designed to help state and local emergency
managers incorporate the needs of children into the emergency planning
process and standard Emergency Operations Plans. It will be based on Save
the Children Foundation's emergency management guide, The Unique Needs of
Children in Emergencies, a Guide for the Inclusion of Children in Emergency
Operations Plan.

"Children are extremely vulnerable during an emergency and evacuation," said
Mark Shriver, vice president and managing director of Save the Children's
U.S. programs and chair of the National Commission on Children and
Disasters. "It is crucial that communities plan ahead for disasters, with a
special focus on assisting children."

My response to this on the CYD-NET list serve was:

Dear Colleagues,
Although this is an encouraging initiative, it is important that the capacities of children are not overlooked in this instance. It is important that education involves children, rather than them being passive observers, they understand and are aware of the potential dangers as well as being able to know what to do, where to go and how to get there. They need to understand that they play a role in being safe. We teach children how to cross the road safely, how to wear a seatbelt, not to talk to adult that they don't know etc, but we don't yet address how they can be safe in an emergency.

I have recently been an observer in the Southern California shake-out exercise in which more than three million school children took part in drop, cover and hold, and many were involved in school evacuations. Although there was dissemination and feedback with staff involved in these exercises there was hardly any dissemination or discussion with the students that had also taken part. Had they understood why? Was it just another drill? When I asked the students what educational activities they had done prior to the drill the answer was that they had not. In other words it was not tied to the curriculum in any way, but was seen as an 'abstract' exercise with limited learning outcomes. This needs to change for these experiential activities are to be effective they need to have proper time for reflection and evaluation so that it becomes truly part of the 'experiential learning cycle'.

I also asked the students if they had an emergency kit at home, in the car etc, and in a group of twenty, there was one response of, "I think my mom does..." It is clear that these students (of high school age by the way) did not think it was their responsibility. We must move on from 'top down' approaches and be truly inclusive which means involving children in their own preparedness and safety through creative curricular and experiential learning that builds on evaluation and reflection. We also need to move on from didactic education and make it fun and experiential with an emphasis on practical action that can be taken by all (including children) to be prepared.

Edu4hazards.org now available in Chinese

2008-09-19T17:07:00.000Z

Following the success of translating the entire site into Spanish and in an effort to cover the major written languages of the world, www.edu4hazards.org is now also available in Chinese (simplified). While you may also notice that this site has had a redesign, so has http://edu4drr.ning.com which I have done in an effort to get members to do the same! I want member sto use the site more and I thought that if I 'pimped' the site, they might do the same thing!

Effective Education for DRR - It's NOT Rocket Science...

2008-09-01T22:08:00.001Z

This short video shows what can be done by teachers to initiate effective education for DRR in schools and the communities around them. These are VERY young children and yet thay are learning how to respond, where the hazards are in their area, how to avoid them and where the safe places are to evacuate to. They make their OWN hazard maps and share these with their pers and with adults. They are NOT scared or scarred by this experience, but they do LEARN and DISCOVER. According to proponents of experiential learning this will also perform part of a cycle where the children will reflect on what they have learned and apply it to a similar learning experience in the future. So what is MOST important is that great initiatives, lessons and learning are built upon and revisited in just a creative a way. Examples like this are inpiring to me as both a teacher and researcher of effective education for DRR and I wanted to share it with you. BY the way the original video of this was longer but I have edited out some of this in order to keep the important and simple message this film has to offer. The original film was made by the Insurers of Japan.

www.edu4hazards.org in Spanish

2008-09-01T21:26:00.000Z

My edu4hazards site is now completely translated into Spanish. It took me about ten hours to change all the graphics in photoshop and edit and upload all of the html files. I have even changed the META tags so that someone searching on google in a Spanish speaking country will be able to find it! Pretty tiring but I am PLEASED with the results. Next I plan to translate into simplified Chinese using google translate! And talking of translating websites, I now have a clever little series of flags on the edu4drr.ning.com site which when pressed translates the entire site using google translate! I have to say having used google translate it is pretty good. However you really have to read through careully as any 'untranslatable' words stay in English. The trick the is to rephrase it slightly and then cross-check by translating back from Spanish to English (in this instance)

Script for Earthquake Preparedness Radio Adverts

2008-08-26T18:31:00.000Z

So there was a message on the EN-DRR list serve today from the Kazakhstan wanting input on a script for earthquake safety. The advert was obviously aimed at engaging families in taking protective measures to reduce their vulnerability to disasters. When the script first came to me it was a little leaden and didn't necessarily reinforce the important messages for earthquake preparedness. Below is my reply with the edited version of the scripts. I have completed script one and two of four now:

Dear Tashkent DRR Team,
I have looked through your scripts and think that reaching people via radio commercials is a very good idea. It is VERY important to make sure that the advice is consistent with lessons learned elsewhere. It is doubly important that any radio commercial makes it very CLEAR what to do as there is no visual reference. I will attempt to change all four scripts to meet this criteria, but have changed the first one to what you see below! Explaining what an earthquake is quiet abstract and I am unsure of the level of education about this with the general public in Kazakhstan. However, I have tried to address this in the script below. I hope this helps and I am sure that there are others on the mailing list that will be willing to help you.

Kind Regards,

Justin Sharpe

Clip 1

There are three characters in this jingle: mother, father and 10-12 years old child.

Kid: Daddy, what is an earthquake?

Father: Earthquake’s are the shaking, rolling or sudden shock of the earth’s surface. Earthquakes happen along "fault lines" in the earth’s crust.

Mommy: Most of the time, you will notice an earthquake by the gentle shaking of the ground. You may notice hanging plants swaying or objects wobbling on shelves. Sometimes you may hear a low rumbling noise or feel a sharp jolt.

Kid: And how to act during an earthquake?

Father: The most important is not to panic!

Mother: The second most important thing to remember during an earthquake is to DROP, COVER and HOLD ON. So remember to DROP to the floor on your knees and get under something such as a table for COVER and HOLD ON during the shaking.

Father: If there is no table or bed to get under drop down onto your knees against a wall away from things that might fall on you. Stay away from windows bookcases or heavy furniture. Try to cover your head and neck.

Mother: And of course, you have to stay at your place until the earthquake stops.

Father: And when it is over, move carefully and look out for fallen things.

The Second Script & e-mail:

Dear Tashkent Team,
I have written out clip two below. It is important to REINFORCE a consistent message about certain key points, so you will see information about drop cover and hold on, again in this clip. I have expanded (slightly) the rest of the clip too, but all of this will be below 30 seconds still! I hope this helps,

Kind Regards,

Justin

Clip 2:

Kid: Mommy, why are there sometimes victims when earthquakes happen?

Mother: Well, first of all, because people began to panic, which is strongly not recommended.

Father: And second of all, in order not to be a victim of an earthquake it is important to be prepared for it.

Kid: But how can we be prepared?

Mother: Do you remember what we have been practicing at home?

Kid: You mean when we DROP, COVER and HOLD ON. I get under a table, drop to my knees and hold on to the table leg!

Father: Well REMEMBERED!

Mother: But we should be prepared in other ways too.

Kid: How so?

Mother: The most dangerous places in the house should be identified, for example near the windows, big and heavy things which can fall down. You need to stay away from these if an earthquake occurs!

Father: We should also know how to switch off the gas and electricity in order to avoid a fire starting.

Mother: There must be a first aid kit in the house which is easy to access and won’t get lost in an earthquake.

Father: Moreover, it is important to have copies of necessary documents.

Mother: Each member of the family should know exactly appointed place for meeting after the earthquake, as well as how to get there safely!

Lesson Starters - What NOT to do in an earthquake!

2008-08-21T22:27:00.001Z

Your lesson starter is incredibly important. Whether you are in a classroom or undertake projects in other locations, if you can use multimedia resources it can REALLY help captivate your audience! I work with11-18 year olds who can often come across as cynical, so to get them interested and engaged I often use photographs or short film clips. You could do worse than use THIS VIDEO as a starter! There are so many lessons from this video for students and teachers...
Find more videos like this on Edu4drr

Genius Video, shame about the website

2008-07-26T16:55:00.000Z

The video posted below is brilliant! Watch for yourself and see what I mean. If you want to get across a clear message about preparing for an earthquake I think this is excellent - especially for the teenage/young adult demographic. However, and it is a BIG however, the website that it suggests the viewer visit is VERY dry! I think teens and young people may see this and visit the website, and then be put off immediately. Now I can't speak for every teen and young person, but the information is NOT presented in this format. But if you're dad who is in his 30's or 40's it would be a good place to visit!

Any way check the video out, as it deserves to be watched and make your own decision about the website, which has some very useful information on it including video's on preparing. Alternatively I have designed a website aimed at children and youth at www.edu4hazards.org which is useful for those in the 9-14 age range. I suppose there is a gap for the twenty something demographic, which I will try and address next!

In the meantime, it would be useful if those attempting to raise awareness examined their own awareness of the younger market!

Using Second Life as an educational Resource for DRR

2008-07-26T16:51:00.000Z

I have been playing around in Second Life and examining its application for educational use. There's quite a community in there and it is possible to set up one for an organization or educational establishment. I wanted to set up a UNISDR island starting with educational stuff, links to podcasts etc. I believe this to be a great opportunity to reach a lot of people in an unconventional way. I know the US EPA have a boat in Second Life for instance which has been rendered precisely like one of their research vessels, but this is of limited educational use. I have also discovered that NOAA have an island in second life I want to attempting to create a disaster island scenario, which is almost like a disaster themed 'fun park' where hazards occur and you have to react in the most appropriate way...flying would have to be disabled for people's avatar's (their second life persona) and rewards given for reacting appropriately and surviving...There are ways of embedding url's ino second life and I have already done so in the technology educators island. There is an opportunity to do this with a group of islands in second life known as the scilands If anyone wants to be involved in this exciting project let me know and we can start creating!

Edu4hazards.org available in Norwegian - More translation needed.

2008-07-06T21:30:00.000Z

Over a year ago I designed and built a website aimed at enabling
children and youth to know what appropriate measures to take before
during and after a hazard event. The initial idea came about because
the students I teach often travel abroad on holiday or visiting
family in areas where there are high risks of earthquakes, tornadoes
and hurricanes. Consequently the design of the site reflects this and
the front page of the site is a suitcase with eight labels that say
'earthquake', 'hurricane' etc. Once clicked on the main information
about how to react to the hazard appears. It i purposely not too
wordy and the advice is simple and widely accepted. The site has been
very successful and without marketing generates 50,000 hits monthly
and growing. I have used the site to deliver DRR messages in schools
in London very successfully; using the site as a stimulus and then
carrying out some of the advice with children such as 'duck, cover
and hold' for earthquakes, practising the 'lightning crouch' and
deciding what other action may be taken in the event of a thunder and
lightning storm. Students have made their own films in a wide variety
of languages - Mandarin Chinese, Turkish, Russian, Urdu, Punjabi,
French, German and English in order to show what action to take for a
wide variety of these hazards. These are available through youtube
teacher tube and as video podcasts through the itunes store (type in
'edu4hazards').

The site and the multimedia techniques that I have been pioneering
have been accepted well in the international community of those
involved in DRR and was included as an example of good practice in
the UNISDR publication earlier this year. This is all well and good
and I am glad to receive recognition, but this was never the reason
for me carrying out this project. I wanted to make a difference and
highlight what I thought was lacking in education for DRR in
mainstream education - experiential learning techniques that make a
real impact on children and youth, allowing them to be prepared and
not scared. I have come to the attention of the UK Government, the
Council of Europe and many emergency managers in many local
authorities, where I have given presentations about this project.
However when I have asked for help for site translation their has
been an initial buzz followed by a hiatus, followed by a negative
response at a later date. But following my presentation at the
Council of Europe Meeting on Disaster Reduction at school, a
Norwegian colleague, offered to translate the site into Norwegian.
The main information on each one of the hazard pages has now been
translated, although the further information parts have not been. The
site will automatically come up in Norwegian if you are in Norway,
whereas the rest of the world currently gets the English site, but it
does not have to be like that! I am attaching a word document with
this principal information on and would appreciate any help that
colleagues could give in translation. I would add a link on the site
as I have done from the Norwegian version of the site to that
person's organisation! The Norwegian site can be viewed at: http://
www.edu4hazards.org/index_no.html

There has been a lot of discussion on this forum about education and
how to motivate children and youth to become agents for change for
DRR and I have seen this site coupled with the activities alongside
it do just that. Children show me there Emergency go-bags for
instance and I have even had parents talk to me about what to include
in them (there are photograph's on the site). There is now a
teacher's page on the site where teachers can explore how to use the
site with lesson plans and resources as well as a link to the new
social network for teachers wanting to make a difference in disaster
prevention at: http://edu4drr.ning.com

Please contact me if YOU can help make a difference, as doing this by
myself is not easy!

Edu4Hazards site in Norwegian!

2008-06-23T19:03:00.001Z

The Edu4Hazards site has now been translated into Norwegian, or at least the pages with the most relevant information about how to prepare for and react to all eight of the hazards is! This graphic tells you how to react to an earthquake for instance!

New social network by and for teachers who want to make a difference in disaster prevention.

2008-05-24T15:47:00.000Z

I have created a social network by and for teachers who want to make a difference in disaster prevention. There are many teacher carrying out disaster prevention worldwide, using a variety of different techniques and pedagogical approaches. This new site is to highlight examples of good practices and while allowing teachers to upload resources or plans and attach them to their discussions. When we have a reasonable number of teacher signed up, we will host a series of live chats where practitioners and teachers can share experiences and ideas. Vist the site and sign up for an account. It is free and easy to get going! http://edu4drr.ning.com

New UK based Education and DRR Social Tagging Site

2008-04-06T23:34:00.007Z

In order to collate what projects are, have been or will be going on in the UK in terms of Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) so that the curriculum materials that I am developing will use current best pracice as well as new ideas and methods, I have created a social tagging site called edu4drr, which can be found at: http://www.geo-world.org/edu4drr/ - I will eventually move it onto its own site but for beta testing, this is fine.

I am very excited about this mainly because I have never used PHP before, but have even managed to adapt and use the open source scuttle social tagging code as well as the del:icio:us API to do some other cool things. The idea is not mine though, and wsa developed initially about 6-9 months ago by UNISDR for the purpose of gathering good practice worldwide on DRR in general. As you can imagine the site is getting more users and there are 25 pages for DRR education alone. I thought about using their site and just filtering with a UK tag, but have learned a lot more by doing it this way!

I have also added it as an rss feed to this site in the menu on the right »»»

DRR Education with 'new' families

2008-03-25T19:40:00.000Z

I was thinking to day about DRR materials and education in particular as I was teaching a class too my 17 year old students, highlighting the need for education but also acknowledging that despite knowledge about earthquakes etc, simple safety advice is often ignored or people 'put off' doing anything about it. As part of my literature review for my PhD I have been examining psychology texts related to people making hazard adjustments in and around the home after public education programmes: "Much of the empirical research carried out in the USA, has examined how people rate their vulnerability in relation to the risks. In particular it has been found that many are aware of earthquake risks, for example, but that this is rated much lower in importance than perceived risks from crime and pollution. However anxiety about earthquakes coupled with an internal locus of control can lead to an increased rate of adjustment adoption. Additionally being married and having children also leads to greater adjustment adoption, but length of time lived in a place where hazards exist lead to less. This tends to beg the following question: Why haven’t Disaster Risk Reduction practitioners targeted ‘new’ families through ante and neo-natal groups, for instance, showing how simple adjustments can protect both them and their young family?"

Is this a fair question and are there any examples of this being carried out and if so what were the results? Is there any evidence for a change in hazards adjustments as a result?

New categories on edu4hazards site

2008-02-01T21:10:00.000Z

I’ve added an avalanche (http://www.edu4hazards.org/avalanche.html ) and a lightning strike (http://www.edu4hazards.org/lightning.html ) category to the edu4hazards.org website. While carrying ut the research for the lightning strike pages I came across advice about the lightning crouch (http://www.edu4hazards.org/lightning_crouch.html ) which I didn’t know about initially but have since researched in more depth. I decided to ask many teachers and Emergency Planning Officers in the UK about what they would do and many thought that lying down was the safest thing to do if caught out in the open....apparently not the advice given to the US Army, or by NOAA! What you should do is follow the instruction given on the lightning crouch pages that I have put up! It seems that this is a real gap in knowledge and there seems to be a lot of ‘assumed knowledge’ about the safety if cars - people think its the rubber tyres and not the metal cage that will save lives and are consistently giving bad advice about what to do. I found this both interesting and shocking and am now carrying out further research among PE and geography teachers in the UK as well as outdoor education specialists to poll their knowledge and correct any misconceptions! Watch this space for more updates soon...

Response to the Pitt Review of Flooding in the UK 2007

2008-01-11T19:33:00.000Z

Disaster and Development centre, University of Northumbria.
Response to the Pitt Interim Review on the 2007 Floods.

Following the Pitt Review of the 2007 floods, the Disaster and Development Centre would like to outline its position regarding the vulnerabilities and capacities of children and how this can be addressed through simple and cost effective education.

Within the interim review, children are highlighted as being part of the vulnerable population alongside the elderly and disabled, but their capacities and resilience at such a time is not made explicit. Research has shown that children are not only aware of the dangers within their environment, but they are full of ideas for preparedness. (Twigg, 2005, Sharpe 2007). Additionally, research has also indicated that children have the capacity to perceive high-risk, low-probability disasters (including flooding) and that they are able to communicate these risks in a way that can influence the actions of those around them (Ronan & Johnston, 2003; Sharpe, 2007).

This capacity should be encouraged and implemented through the schools curriculum and outside of school in community and youth groups such as through the Scouts movement for instance. There are already websites set up to offer advice specifically for children who are at risk from a range of natural hazards such as www.edu4hazards.org and www.fema.gov/kids. Consequently, children and youth are better informed about preparedness than their parents. This should not only be recognised but utilised further.

Within the report, there were two stories of community spirit involving children and youths who are often seen as ‘ruffians’(sic) but who waded through floodwater distributing supplies and water, for instance. These community acts can be made less risky with advance training. In countries where natural hazards are very much part of daily life, youth teams have been trained in first aid, community liaison and preparedness, including making and sharing hazard maps within their communities. (e.g. Plan, El Salvador)This has earned them both the respect of their peers and others in the community, while providing an invaluable service in terms of Disaster Risk Reduction. The result is that awareness of such events are increased and although the outcome of the next major hazard event is not known the community are better prepared. It would also put children and youth back at the heart of the community, making them feel less disenfranchised with society and less likely to be a cause of both perceived and real nuisance.

This is borne out by youth-oriented projects in the USA - http://www.certla.com/links/teensert.htm for example - that address community preparedness to disaster threats. Specifically they argue that, skills in first aid and disaster event response are taught to teenagers, but that this also fosters the ability to address other challenges, to create a community which works together irrespective of the threat, and to apply values and attitudes to any societal challenge. This holistic approach has also been carried out in Turkey (http://www.ahep.org/ev/egitim5_0e.htm) and many other countries around the world. Examples of good practice can be seen in the UNISDR publication, Disaster Risk Reduction Begins at School (http://www.unisdr.org/eng/about_isdr/isdr-publications/11-education-good-practices/education-good-practices.pdf )

The United Kingdom Government gives aid packages to countries struck by natural disaster through the Department for International Development (DFID), in which a tranche of the aid must be spent on future mitigation and education projects. However we are currently not doing the same within our own borders. We must be able to learn from such events and implement good practice sooner rather than later. In other words striking while the flood is still very much in the minds of those affected by it. After the Indian Ocean Earthquake and Tsunami there was a raft of education programmes implemented by NGO’s working in the field as well as governments. Government money should be spent on mitigation and preparedness that go beyond structural measures, allowing those living on the flood plain to understand the risks and be better prepared for future events, which could come as early as this winter.

The word ‘education’ was mentioned once in the entire document, but within the context of public education about flood insurance. Although this is a useful contribution to future preparation and mitigation, it is not necessarily the most practical and cost effective step for householders to take. The first chapters make note of the events and the impact on communities, highlighting the lack of preparedness regarding access to clean water. But it is clear that people did not stock pile water for drinking and for other uses before the floodwaters arrived, and it is not clear whether this message will be clear and accessible in the future.

Furthermore, it was noted by Sir Michael Pitt, the reports author, that people should prepare by having emergency flood kits including a battery operated radio, mobile phone etc, but this is of limited use if adequate drinking water is not kept aside as well – something NOT highlighted by the report or put forward as one of the 72 Interim Conclusions! The message from the government needs to be clear and consistent and made accessible to every home, including children and the elderly – a ‘generic emergency kit’ may not be sufficient – different people have different needs – but the basics should be known by all. This can be achieved by communicating with those working within the field of Disaster Risk Reduction and Education, such as the authors of this response and implementing their advice with regards to preparation, mitigation and planning. Many have worked in the field for may years both in the UK and abroad and have learned and written about what makes for good practice and knowledgeable about how to implement such practices here in the United Kingdom.

To conclude, it is clear that children and are vulnerable to hazard events, but that does not mean that they cannot be prepared. Simple first aid and DRR training alongside practical advice given through the citizenship and geography curriculum’s can be implemented alongside clear advice given to all sections of society about how to prepare for and cope with a natural hazard event.

It has long been argued that hazards needn’t become disasters and that it is human interaction and in some cases inaction within the environment that allows such disasters to develop. Education is key to reducing the impact of hazards on the community, while being both sustainable and cost effective. Children can be involved in problem-solving and planning for both urban and rural flood risk reduction, through careful land-use planning, community-based early warning systems, and contingency planning for livelihood asset protection. This education does not need to be didactic, but should be practical, useful and a focal point for rebuilding communities that have lost much in the floods.

References:

Ronan, Kevin. R. & Johnston, David. M. (2001), School Children’s Risk Perceptions and Preparedness: A Hazards Education Survey in The Australian Journal of Disaster and Trauma Studies

Ronan, Kevin. R. & Johnston, David. M. (2003), Hazards education for youth: A quasi-experimental investigation in Risk Analysis vol. 23, no5, pp. 1009-1020 [12 page(s) p 1011

Sharpe, J.E. (October 2007) How new media for Disaster Risk Reduction Education can be used effectively as a tool for and generating educational materials by children and youth, for children and youth. European and Mediterranean Workshop on Disaster Reduction at School.

Twigg, J (March 2004) Disaster Risk Reduction: Mitigation and Preparedness in Development and Emergency Programming. Humanitarian Practice Network Overseas Development Institute (ODI), London, UK

New vodcast!

2007-07-13T19:33:00.001Z

I have just completed the first education and DRR vodcast! Filmed earlier this week by my students and edited by them today, I have now added the appropriate xml tags and all will be revealed soon. You should be able to subscribe via i-tunes and I aim to have many more in the coming months. Edu4Hazards itunes vodcast or if you want the xml feed - Edu4Hazards rss feed

Website Update - www.edu4hazards.org

2007-05-13T20:08:00.000Z

I sent the site out to a couple of hazards list sand there have been favourable reviews so far. I have also taken classes through the site at school, which has also been well received. I have added flash floods to the site as well as a pdf link to a book version and a link on the menu to the emergency kit! I aim to add a button where kids can upload photographs of their own education kits, which will be a good way of further engaging kids to think about planning for emergencies as well as getting them to reuse the site. I have registered the domain name now and the site can be seen at:

http://www.edu4hazards.org

Enjoy!

edu4hazards website

2007-05-03T18:47:00.000Z

I teach so many children who now travel abroad often on holidays to locations such as India, Pakistan, USA, Turkey, Iran etc and it struck me that they, and many other children are then at higher risk of falling foul hazards such as earthquakes, tornadoes, hurricanes, flash floods etc and so last weekend, I locked my self away and built a web-site to deal with this. The result is currently in beta testing at: http://www.geo-world.org/edu4hazards but if all goes well and I clear image rights etc I will launch on its own dedicated website. I sent it out to the JISCMAIL server and there have been some positive replies about its usefulness. More importantly is that children that I teach have been overwhelmingly positive (something that is quiet rare for teenagers!)

Following on from this I decided to mock up a book version to support it, I thought that a pocket sized book, with a wipeable pen could be a useful and fun educational tool as well. The book includes a checklist for putting together a hazards emergency rucksack, which children could take with them or encourage their parents to take, I reiterated the point to children that I taught, that they will now know more about how to survive these sorts of hazards than their parents and they should talk to them about it.

Participatory Rural Apraisal

2006-10-21T20:33:00.000Z

While researching different methods of Community based Disaster maagment and past education projects I read a very interesting article in the Bulletin of Volcanology (March 2004) on how Participatory Rural Appraisal (PRA) was used in Ambae Island, Vanuatu in order to allow scientist to understand important local perspectives while avoiding ‘top down’ plans imposed by previously by outside agencies. Past attempts at volcanic hazard awareness involved scientists visiting villages and showing video’s while distributing hazard maps in French and English.

However this did not lead to a better understanding of the hazards faced by the community because the maps contained to much geological information, which only served to confuse the local population. It was previous projects such as this this that caused mistrust among the community and further heightened when in 1995 an evacuation order was given, after increased activity at the crater, but an eruption did not ensue.

Consequently the PRA approach sought to be somewhat less dogmatic aiming to listen rather than lecture, while emphassising visual and diagrammatic techniques over verbal ones. This led to community mapping, followed by hazard mapping and the planning and discussion of evacuation routes. Most importantly, community hazard maps were simplified using three solid colours to indicate the principal hazards and the areas they were most likely to affect. Additionally the text was translated into Bislana (the local langauge).

Although the project was effective in many areas and the local population are no doubt better prepared, there were some interesting outcomes from the project that I would like to highlight and give thoughts on:

1. It was thought that ‘short and effective’ visits were best to undertake when carrying out the hazard mapping tasks so that it fitted in with community life, such as making funeral preparations, festival preparation and other normal events. I can see how this would be beneficial as one of the aims was not to be too intrusive. However, I wondered whether it would have been possible to hold yearly evacuation drills, even making a competition between villages to evacuate quicly and efficiently. Otherwise, there may be a danger that the work carried out would be slowly lost.
2. The society on Ambae is still extremely patriachal with a number of high ranking males (usually the head chief and assistant chiefs) making decisions about disaster management with no discussion or information sharing at all with women and children. Women only workshops highlighted this difference and many women reported that this is what has happened in the past when hazard warnings have been given by the authorities. This clearly places women and children at risk as they are not informed enough to make their own decisions about when to evacuate an area. The researchers working with the communities argued that including women and youths on the disaster committe improves the efficiency of transferring decision making deliberations to their sections of the community. What I found interesting was that although the researchers were trying to move away from ‘top down’ approaches, the community they were working with had there own ‘top down’ approach! For example, the chiefs communicating only with high ranking males who then made decisions about disaster risk, arguably placing the more vulnerable sections of their society - namely women and children most at risk!

Would it be possible to communicate with the chiefs the importance of full community participation in hazard management. How did the chiefs feel when ‘outsiders’ went to the crater without their permission when previously only high ranking males were allowed? It is most likely that they were marginalised in their own backyard and a parallel could be drawn between this and how women and children may feel in the community about disaster management that they are not involved in discussion. It could also be pointed out that when previous ‘experts’ in the form of visiting scientists ordered them to evacuate, some did not trust them and did not leave their homes.

What would have changed their minds?

Part of reducing hazard vulnerability is understanding the dangers, knowing how to evacuate and where to. If all sections of the community are aware of this, they can work together to overcome the difficulties and dangers presented by geohazard events.

What I am curious about now is whether this approach has now been taken in Vanuatu or in other communities that have such patriachal views? If anyone can help me out with this I will be interested and you can post a reply to this here

Aims of PhD

2006-10-04T10:10:00.000Z

One of the principal aims of a PhD should be originality, either in thought, method of research or results. I have been thinking about this and have tried to pinpoint what my research aims for:

1. Hazard Education will be examined and critiqued alongside different approaches to hazard vulnerability. Although not necessarily ‘original’ this will provide the basis and arguments into why geohazard eductaion has had limited success in the past. For example, taking a ‘dominant’ approach, which is often technocratic, bureacratic and top down in its appraoch, thereby marginalizing the people it is supposed to be helping.
2. Via research, interviews and workshops I hope to pinpoint ways in which future geohazard education projects can be more successful at educationg at risk and vulnerable communities. The overall aim of this is to help vulnerable communities percieve the hazards that they face and take measures to minimise their vulnerablity.
3. Once this information has been collected and carefully analysed, I aim to produce a portable package of materials and guidelines on community based geohazard education that can be used by NGO’s and INGO’s working in high risk areas to effectively involve communities in their own vulnerability reduction projects.
4. The final stage of the research will be to implement the use of the package in two different projects, addressing different hazard needs, possibly in Nepal and Indonesia. Through ongoing monitoring evaluation I should be able to see how affective the guidelines and materials are. It is important that I act as an initial facillitator to education programmes and then step back and let community groups and local educators or community workers evaluate their own risks and vulnerabilities and are then guided on how to be prepared and to reduce the risks to heir community.

Paper for Special Issue on Children and Disasters Children, Youth and Environments

2006-08-17T21:55:00.001Z

It is 22:52 now and I have just finished my paper which is provisionally entitled: 'How children's vulnerability in disasters can be reduced by their involvement and empowerment through community based education and disaster prevention.' I have outlined briefly what vulnerability is and how it relates to disasters before examining flood hazard mapping in Japan which does not appear to include children and youth in its programme, before looking at two case studies in depth that illustrate how children's vulnerability can be reduced through their involvement and participation. One project was carried out on the island of Luzon in the Philippines and the other was the Plan El Salvador project.

Both seem to be very interesting and more importantly seem to be making an impact on reducing vulnerability across all sectors of the communities in which they have been carried out in. I am a little tired now, so I am going to go to bed with the new(ish) Terry Pratchet book (called 'Thud') and zone out for a bit!

Tsunami Education Comic

2006-08-15T10:52:00.000Z

While working with form group we looked at different media techniques for educating people about geohazards such as earthquakes and tsunamis. I have put this image of the tsunami risk in comic form, on this blog, but I will also update it on the geo-world site soon as well!
Click here to view it!
While on the subject of education I have also posted my design for a portable shake table here »

On the subject of my paper, I'll get back to it later today, almost completed 3,000 words now so it is getting there!

2006-08-14T01:18:00.001Z

I haven’t added an entry for a while because I have been busy writing the paper for the children youth and environment journal. I have made quite a bit of headway, I have examined:

• Some hazard and hazard vulnerability theories and practices
• A literature review
• Two projects - one in the Phillipines and the other in El Salvador which used CBDM as a way of engaging people. Project in Phillipines was about increasing populations capacity to cope with geo-hazard events.
• I am now examining the Plan International evaluation with a view to analysing its effectiveness in community hazard mapping and how this has contributed to better awareness and capacity for hazard events.

In terms of planning, etc I have found Sente very useful, have used the British Library a couple of times too examine documents and publications, including Andrew Maskrey etc.

I have downloaded a useful piece of software called ‘Curio’ which is incredibly useful for project management etc. I have used it to help me plan the paper I was talking about earlier as well as drawing up a model for hazards increasing vulnerability beacause the hazard forces or encourages people to engage in practices that worsen the impacts of hazards. I have created a pdf of file here is a link to it first

2006-07-26T10:34:00.000Z

Following my meeting with Maureen Fordham, I have put a few things into practice. Firstly I evaluated apiece of software that can be used for a bibliography and literature review based on her advice. End Note is supposed to be a cross platform biblography programme, but I have read that it wasn’t that compatible with OS X 10.4 and it was also very expensive. Instead I found a link to Sente on a forum. This is a great piece of software which check online library catalogues and databases for documents and even retrieves it in pdf format if available. The author. a synopsis and key words are then added to your own chosen category or sub-category by dragging the document.

I have managed to track down some of the texts suggested by Maureen on Amazon and these should be coming through any day soon.

Maureen also suggested that we submit a paper to Children, Youth and Environments is an interdisciplinary, peer-reviewed
journal with a multidisciplinary audience of researchers, policy makers, and professionals in 143 countries around the world (http://www.colorado.edu/journals/cye/index.htm). The closing date for abstracts is 15th September. I have viewed the synopsis for abstracts and I think that tackling the subject of children’s vulnerability to hazards and how this can be redressed by empowering children to become involved in risk analysis (hazard mapping in El salvador for instance) It would be useful to find information on the effectiveness of such schemes.
Also might be useful to examine what role groups like COGSS would like to play in future.

16/07/06

2006-07-22T11:51:00.001Z

Notes on ‘Methods of Delivery’

Again there were several methods of delivery noted in ‘Disaster Risk Reduction: Mitigation and Preparedness’.

•        Posters and leaflets are the most common form of strategy as they are relatively cheap to produce – However, the impact of this method is said to be weakened because of inappropriate images. People are moved by visual images more than verbal ones and tend to remember them better, especially in societies with low literacy levels: THEREFORE: USING TSUNAMI CARTOON DRAWN BY BOY IN MY CLASS AND USING ONLY ONE WORD – ‘TSUNAMI’ is a good way of getting message across. NB – Need to get this scanned and put on web site!
•        Use of Demonstrations – Shake tables are often used in demonstrations. Other demonstrations may also be useful for people to fully comprehend hazards: egg tectonics, clamp and pencil, sound waves (clicking fingers) etc. NOTE: SHAKE TABLES THAT CAN BE CARRIED AROUND ESAILY – VARIABLE SPEED DRILL TABLE DESIGN OR CRANK SHAFT DESIGN, MAY BE MORE USEFUL AS THEY CAN BE MADE AND DISTRIBUTESD TO EDUCATORS AND PEOPLE WILLING TO DEMONSTRATE.
•        Hazard Risk Maps: Important that they are presented in an easily understood format - Is it possible to use 3D mapping and photographic montages so that maps are less abstract – especially to people with lower literacy levels. When hazard maps are being drawn up sites could also be photographed? (i.e. Parts of volcano slope where pyroclastic surges may occur, or safer areas that population should evacuate to!)
Entertainment Media: In past radio soap operas have been used to get across the dangers of hurricanes – Teimpos de Huracanes (Hurricane Season) in Central America. I thought that working with school and producing a DVD in a ‘Bollywood’ style to show people the dangers of earthquakes and of the importance of building design and of duck and cover exercises. In particular a good and easily remembered song needs to be written and a good dance routine!! I have approached the director media at school and we have started to talk about possible locations for filming etc. gain the idea is to get students to be involved writing and producing the film. If this was successful it could either be exported and used in education projects or used as a model for villages/ schools to make their own versions, using a pre written format – Much like a village play - Very useful in places like Indonesia where this is a useful way of learning about past or myths and legends – can be used in an educational way – Shadow Puppets?

14/07/06

2006-07-22T11:51:00.000Z

Having read chapter sent to me by John Twigg on Education, Information and Communications on geohazards, I have had some thoughts and have made some annotations to the text.

•        It is important to understand the community one is seeking to help. This is more than just knowing a little about the culture, any project needs to communicate with local population what their needs, priorities and indigenous knowledge and capacity.
•        Although risk management and education about risks posed is important, but must be informed by communities experience and perception of the risk. There is probably an argument therefore of setting up education projects while having a close dialogue with local population.
•        Visualisation, talk and modelling etc are the best ways to analyse and transmit knowledge. Is it also possible to get local people involved in the measurement, monitoring of hazards – i.e. appointing someone to be responsible for looking for warning signs and communicating dangers at the local level. (same principal as putting seismographs in UK and US schools – i.e. it generates interest and provokes people into wanting to find out more…However it is important that this information is available and accessible when the time comes.
•        There is an argument that vulnerable people can explain their perspectives clearly to outsiders if given the opportunity to do so…How did Kubilay find this in Pakistan? What was the most effective method? Workshops? Talking/Meetings? Teaching? Informal chats?
•        Many disaster programmes should include communications and awareness raising: Public Education is often undertaken by people without special training or skills which results in ‘fragmented, one-off, short-term interventions’. Education therefore needs to be an ongoing basis, developing over time as local knowledge becomes moiré sophisticated’.

Autism Month - Don't Overlook these members of our community!

2005-04-20T09:04:00.000Z

April is Autism Awareness Month (and April 2^nd was World Autism Awareness Day), so it’s a great time to ensure that your preparedness efforts are inclusive of people with Autism in our families, staff/volunteer pools, and our community at large. Autism Spectrum Disorder (ASD) is a range of complex neurodevelopmental disorders and people with ASD can exhibit varying degrees of difficulty with communicating, social interaction, language and learning.

Often people with Autism have greater capacity for pattern detection and thrive when set patterns and routines are in place. These traits can provide great learning opportunities for your whole team. During Autism Awareness Month, consider making a special effort to actively include people with ASD in your preparedness and planning events – remembering to highlight both their unique preparedness needs and their particular contributions.

Tip: View and post this TEDTalks video for an empowering presentation by Dr. Temple Grandin, Ph.D – a world-renowned Autism advocate, animal behavior professor, author, livestock handling facilities designer – who was diagnosed with autism as a child