Enabling People-Centered Risk Communication for Geohazards

Book excerpt: In the field of natural hazards, communicating science with the public and stakeholders involves entering the challenging and complex world of hazard and risk communication, the ultimate purpose of which is to reduce the impact of impending hazards on people at risk. According to the Sendai Framework 2015-2030, it is important to “strengthen the utilization of media, including social media, traditional media, big data and mobile phone networks, to support national measures for successful disaster risk communication.” Sometimes risk communication has collateral and unexpected side effects that may lead to the adoption of inadequate behaviors. In some instances, this can even result in legal actions being taken against scientists and/or emergency managers. The role of the media should be to facilitate the accurate communication of hazard and risk information, but such communication is often hampered by the fact that journalists have different agendas and priorities than scientists, risk communicators, and emergency managers. This does not always support people in their decision making. Accurate communication of hazard and risk is especially important when decisions have to be made within contexts where uncertainty is very high. This is often the case with geohazards, such as earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions, and landslides.