Disaster risk communication

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Introduction

Risk communication has a significant role in building a resilient community able to withstand and recover after disaster events. The main aim of risk communication is to create a shared understanding of risk among all involved stakeholders through coordination, collecting and disseminating information, planning for a crisis and crisis management.

If you don’t communicate at all or if you don’t communicate well, people will fill that information gap, experts say. It is thus important to design messages to suit specific audiences, a task requires consideration and understanding of the audience’s beliefs, and an awareness of why they reject certain messages.

This collection of resources on risk communication covers aspects on misinformation and disasters, risk perception and biases and communication on disaster risk reduction.

Visit the Disaster Risk Communication Hub and build your own risk communication plan.

Related links
Reporting on disasters: Media resources
Themes
Advocacy and media

Knowledge base

Sea level rise in Tangier VA
Research briefs

Sea-level rise maps can decrease risk perceptions in coastal communities

A new study finds that providing risk-exposed coastal residents with maps of projected sea-level rise was found to reduce individual concern. By contrast, emphasizing infrastructure disruptions increased concern among all coastal residents.
Yale Program on Climate Change Communication
Cover and source: International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction
Documents and publications

Long-term communication of aftershock forecasts: The Canterbury earthquake sequence in New Zealand

This study explores long-term aftershock forecast information and communication needs in the aftermath of the 2016 Christchurch earthquake. It also aims to gather feedback on aftershock scenarios, an alternative form for communicating the forecast.
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Documents and publications

Coping capacity attenuates the effect of natural disaster risk on conspiracy beliefs

In this study, authors hypothesized that disaster risk and lack of coping capacity are positively related to conspiracy beliefs and tested these relationships across three studies.
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Documents and publications

Countering disinformation and misinformation in animal health emergencies

The guidelines listed in this document provide a starting point for organisations working in animal health emergencies, to prepare for, detect and respond to disinformation and misinformation.
Research briefs

When hurricanes hit, online chatter drowns out safety messaging

When natural disasters strike, social networks like Facebook and X (formerly known as Twitter) can be powerful tools for public communication—but often, rescue workers and government officials struggle to make themselves heard above the general hubbub.
Stevens Institute of Technology
Flooded road in Florida after heavy hurricane rainfall
Update

Why might people believe in human-made hurricanes? Two conspiracy theory psychologists explain

Disasters often spark conspiracy theories about weather manipulation, as people seek control in the face of uncertainty. Promoting critical thinking and improving disaster preparedness can reduce these beliefs and help encourage actions.
Conversation Media Group, the
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Documents and publications

Risk Communication for Early Action: Guide for essential research

This practical guide aims to help you gather essential research data to underpin effective and relevant disaster risk communication plans to support early warning and early action.
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Documents and publications

Risk Communication for Early Action: Pocket guide

The aim of this guide is to provide simple guidance and practical tips for practitioners planning effective disaster risk communication strategies that support early warning and early action.
Update

Evaluating the flow of information for high-impact weather events

For the past three years, undergraduate students in the Rosenstiel School have investigated how information on devastating landfalling hurricanes is created, shared, and used within a complete warning system.
University of Miami
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Documents and publications

Using creative methods for public health messaging: Experiences from an informal settlement in Kenya during the pandemic

This report provides an overview of Action Against Covid-19 Transmission in Nairobi (ACT Nairobi), a community-based, participatory public health project in an informal settlement of the city.

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