Importance of community involvement on the road to school seismic safety in British Columbia: the obstacles and circumventing thema
The paper outlines the road to a 1.5 billion, 15 year commitment by the government of British Columbia to school seismic safety. Over the course of a concerted one and a half year public education, media and lobbying campaign, school seismic safety has come to grip the collective social conscience and is becoming a focal point for promoting broader mitigation measures. The recognition of schools as an infrastructure priority has built a sense of community across the political spectrum.
The paper reviews general obstacles to mitigation, including fatalism of the population and perceived lack of short-term political gain for governments. The specific obstacles to mitigation of schools in BC will also be examined. These obstacles have included: 1) Failure to designate the buildings as a priority for retrofit. 2) Locus of responsibility placed within the already cash-strapped education sector. 3) Discomfort at the price tag.