The actual behaviour of individuals and government entities before, during, and immediately after a disaster can dramatically affect the impact, vulnerability, recovery time and resilience. Despite decades of research on disaster risk and perception, studies on actual damages and responses after disasters, decision-making tools, and actionable knowledge of the actual behaviour of the populations are still a challenge. Uncertainty derives from lack of information, lack of trust, alternatives, previous experience, but also segregation, oppression, etc. This conference is addressing the knowledge gap between risk perception, evacuation, response, and adaptation behaviour. It aims to build a multidisciplinary panoramic European view.

13 - 14 March 2019

Presentation

The actual behaviour of individuals and government entities before, during, and immediately after a disaster can dramatically affect the impact, vulnerability, recovery time and resilience. Despite decades of research on disaster risk and perception, studies on actual damages and responses after disasters, decision-making tools, and actionable knowledge of the actual behaviour of the populations are still a challenge. Whilst risk perception, evacuation behaviour, social vulnerability, coping strategies, recovery time, public involvement, management strategies, as well as resilience, are critical factors, they are too often overlooked because linking risk perception and actual behaviour remains a major challenge. Existing big data, social media and social media for emergency management (SMEM) analyses are still immature in understanding the gap between risk perception and response behaviour. Uncertainty derives from lack of information, lack of trust, alternatives, previous experience, but also segregation, oppression, etc.

Innovations in risk, vulnerability, recovery and resilience assessments that integrate perception, segregation and behavioural adaptation dynamics may lead to more accurate characterization of risks and improved evaluation of the effectiveness of risk communication and management strategies and investments. Improved decision-making in uncertainty conditions, especially in extreme crisis situations, may help citizens to better decide about whether to stay or evacuate, while improving risk communication, insurance and management, and this helps to save lives.

This is a field where evacuation planning and exercise, social vulnerability and resilience, segregation and exclusion, civil protection, psychology, the insurance industry, legal and institutional background, land use and governance, risk communication, emergency management, public involvement, decision making, basic research on fear factors, discrimination and human behaviour must be thought together. Such multidisciplinary approaches and comparative studies can inform decision making under uncertainty, risk and emergency management, as well as policy development.

This European conference is addressing risk perception, evacuation, response, and adaptation behaviour with 35 researchers, experts and practitionners from 14 countries. It aims to build a multidisciplinary panoramic European view.

Program

Wednesday 13 March 2019

09.00 – 09.30  Introduction and overview

09.30 – 10.30  Guest lecture from Ben Wisner, University College London (UK)

10.30 – 12.30  Panel 1: Paradigm Shifts and Challenges

• The Role of Knowledge in Disaster Risk Management: Lessons Learned about Lessons Learned - Juergen Weichselgartner, Crisis Management, Emergency Planning and Civil Protection (Germany)
• Nature-based Solutions and the role of perception in assessing and reducing risk to natural hazards - Carl C. Anderson, Fabrice G. Renaud, University of Glasgow (UK)
• Mainstreaming climate risk information in adaptation planning - Jaroslav Mysiak, Silvia Torresan, Francesco Bosello, Malcolm Mistry, Mattia Amadio, Sepehr Marzi,Elisa Furlan and Anna Sperotto, Università Ca’ Foscari, Venezia Porto Marghera (Italy)
• Facing Europe’s climate future – EU governance and climate risks at a crossroads - Markus Leitner, Therese Stickler, Environment Agency Umweltbundesamt (Austria)
• Coastal risk adaptation: governance and social perception challenges - Elisabet Roca, Inga Sauer, Míriam Villares, Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya (Spain)

12.30 – 14.00  Break

14.00 – 16.00  Panel 2: Risk Perception, Preparedness, Warning and Evacuation

• “What do we need to know before we act?” Analysis of risk perception, risk awareness & individual risk preparedness to support risk management - Lydia Pedoth, Stefan Schneiderbauer, Eurac Research, Bolzano (Italy)
• Macro-perspective in risk perception and adaptation behaviour - Piotr Matczak, Piotr Jabkowski, Piotr Cichocki, Institute of Sociology, Mickiewicz University, Poznan (Poland)
• Factors influencing the (flood)risk perception in Hungary - Zoltan Ferencz, Anna Vari, Research Centre for Social Sciences at Hungarian Academy of Sciences, Institute of Sociology, Budapest (Hungary)
• Linking local predictors of risk perception and evacuation behavior in Paris, France - Samuel Rufat, Institut Universitaire de France (France)

16.00 – 16.30  Break

16.30 – 18.00  Panel 3: Risk Perception, Insurance and Housing

• Flood resilience of private properties: addressing homeowners in existing built-up areas - Thomas Hartmann, Willemijn Doorn-Hoekveld, Marleen van Rijswick, Tejo Spit, Wageningen University & Research (Netherlands)
• Mapping risk perception – different views, different risks? - Stefan Kienberger, University of Salzburg, Z_GIS (Austria)
• Estimating the impacts of French flood risk prevention regulation on property values located in flood prone areas: the case of the region around Paris - Edwige Dubos-Paillard, Emmanuelle Lavaine, Katrin Millock, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne, Université de Montpellier & Paris School of Economics (France)
• Risk culture, insurance and evacuation during the recent floods of the Seine - Frédéric Gache, Grand Lacs de Seine (France)

18.00 – 18.30  Open discussion: cross-cutting insights

Thursday 14 March 2019

09.00 – 10.45  Panel 4: Risk Management, Neglected Groups and Social Vulnerability

• Demographic change and hydro-metrological hazards: flood risk management in Alpine areas facing population decline and demographic ageing - Thomas Thaler, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Austria)
• Perception, uncertainty and risk: Decision-making and behavioral formation among farmers in Côte d’Ivoire in a context of increased climate variability - Maria del Mar Moure Pena, Matthias Garschagen, Institute for Environment and Human Security, United Nations University (Germany)
• Social vulnerability of mobile groups. Neglected groups in spatial vulnerability assessments such as commuters, pedestrians, visitors of events - Alexander Fekete, TH Köln - University of Applied Sciences Cologne (Germany)
• Social cohesion as a basic ingredient in public behaviour before, during and after disaster - Timothy Prior, Center for Security Studies, ETH Zurich (Switzerland)
• Making Cologne more resilient against urban flash floods – learning from river flood risk management - Marc Daniel Heintz, Municipal Drainage Operations Cologne (Germany)

10.45 – 11.00  Break

11.00 – 12.45  Panel 5: Risk Management and Institutions: Decision Making

• Influencing public and professional decision making: impactful flood warnings - Simon McCarthy, Flood Hazard Research Centre, Middlesex University London, Neil Blazey, Jacobs London, Jacqui Cotton, Environment Agency, Paul Cobbing, National Flood Forum (UK)
• Institutional vulnerability to natural hazards in the European Alps - Sven Fuchs, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences (Austria)
• Warning of „the population“ from the perspective of civil protection - Nathalie Schopp, Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) (Germany)
• Social vulnerability of the decision-makers? A “gapminder” on assumptions who turns up to manage or help in a disaster - Alexander Fekete, TH Köln - University of Applied Sciences Cologne (Germany)
• Flood risk management plans in Czechia: it’s business, as usual - Monika Stehlíková, Pavel Raška, Lenka Slavíková, Martin Dolejš, J. E. Purkyně University in Ústí and Label (Czechia)

12.45 – 14.00  Break

14.00 – 15.45  Panel 6: Risk Communication, Risk Culture and Public Involvement

• LittoSIM: A simulation-game for enhancing stakeholder’s risk culture of marine submersion - Brice Anselme, Nicolas Becu, Sorbonne University, Paris, Marion Amalric, Université de Tours, Élise Beck, Université Grenoble-Alpes, Frédéric Rousseaux, Université La Rochelle (France)
• Are citizen really outreached through social media in risk communication? - Victor Santoni, Université de Cergy-Pontoise, Paris (France)
• Risk perception in Romania: a participative GIS approach - Iuliana Armas, Radu Ionescu, University of Bucharest (Romania)
• The added value of crisis communication networks in a challenging international and digital landscape: staying active and sharing - Elpida-Melpomeni Chlimintza, Tarik Meziani, Council of the European Union, Civil Protection Unit (Belgium)

15.45 – 16.00  Break

16.00 – 17.45  Panel 7: Learning From Experience

• Flood risk misperceptions with and without recent flood experience - Jantsje Mol, Wouter Botzen, Institute for Environmental Studies, Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam (Netherlands)
• Forensic investigations of disasters: researching root causes in disasters: a multidisciplinary approach to learn lessons from disasters - Djillali Benouar, USTHB - Faculty of Civil Engineering, Algiers (Algeria)
• Refugee crisis management during the Great East Japan earthquake - Aurélie Noël, Université Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne - CNRS (France)
• Improving societal resilience and information sharing after the 2015 Nepal earthquake - Tina Comes, TU Delft (Netherlands)
• Multiple flood experience: Erosion or accumulation of social resilience? - Christian Kuhlicke, Helmholtz-Centre for Environmental Research – UFZ, Department Urban and Environmental Sociology, Leipzig (Germany)

17.45 – 18.30  Concluding discussion

With the support of the COST LAND4FLOOD, Institut Universitaire de France, Ministry for the Ecological and Inclusive Transition, Institute for Advanced Studies – IAS University of Cergy-Pontoise, UCP Fondation, Mobile Lives Forum, LabEx DynamiTe