Understanding how communities cope in flood events, how they respond and how they behave is valuable information to share with other communities who may also be affected by floods and who have time to prepare.
Therefore, the main purpose of the research under FLOODsite Task 11 was to develop guidance for practitioners on understanding of how and why people at risk from flooding behave in certain ways, in order to reduce the impact of flooding on affected communities.
Research concentrated on the following topics:
- Flood risk awareness
- Flood preparedness
- Flood risk communication
- Participation in flood risk management
- Social vulnerability
The guidance produced in Task 11 identifies problems facing flood risk managers, gives recommendations regarding how to approach these problems and also provides background information. FLOODsite report T11-07-14 “Recommendations for flood risk management with communities at risk” by Annett Steinführer et al. is available by clicking on “Publications Currently Available Online” below.
The guidance is intended for engineers, social scientists and government bodies involved in spatial planning and flood risk management and assessment. Some of the issues discussed in the guidance such as the do’s and don’ts of flood risk communication may be needed when preparing flood risk management plans required by the Floods Directive.
Key words: Flood risk awareness, flood risk perception, flood preparedness, social resilience, social vulnerability, community behaviour |
