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Climate change is predicted to increase the vulnerability of urban populations to flood hazards. Against this backdrop, flood risk adaptation has become pertinent. However, in Ghana, current flood risk management practice is fostered by a reactive culture. There is limited research on how communities and government agencies are engaging with flood risk adaptation in improving resilience. Therefore, this paper aims to analyse the culture of communities and agencies through the cultural theory of risk (CTR), towards understanding the flood risk adaptation in Accra, Ghana. Culture is deciphered using the beliefs held by residents and public agency officials.

A qualitative methodology, underpinned by the constructivist paradigm, was adopted to understand factors that influence flood risk adaptation in informal settlements. Data was gathered using household and institutional interviews in Glefe, Accra, Ghana.

The results show that both disaster risk management institutions and community members are deeply concerned about current and future flood risk. However, their cultural beliefs concerning flood risk and adaptation are contradictory, broadly framed by fatalist, individualist and hierarchist beliefs. The contradictory emergent beliefs contribute to a clash of expectations and create uncertainty about how to respond to flood risk, impacting the implementation of required adaptation measures. Developing a collaborative flood risk management framework and a shared understanding of adaptation approaches may be a better alternative.

This paper advances understanding of how culture influences flood risk adaptation in developing country context.

Conventional lecture-based educational approaches alone might not be able to portray the complexity of disaster risk management practice and its real-life dynamics. One work-integrated learning practice that can give students practical work-related experiences is simulation-based learning. However, there is a limited discourse on simulation-based learning in disaster risk management education at the tertiary level. As tertiary education plays a crucial role in developing capabilities within the workforce, simulation-based learning can evoke or replicate substantial aspects of the real world in a fully interactive fashion. This paper aims to present outcomes of simulation-based learning sessions the authors designed and delivered in a disaster risk management course.

The authors developed a framework to illustrate simulation-based learning in a disaster risk management programme. It was then used as a guide to design and execute simulation-based learning sessions. An autoethnographic methodology was then applied to reflectively narrate the experiences and feelings during the design and execution of the simulations.

The evaluation of the simulation sessions showed that participants were able to apply their knowledge and demonstrate the skills required to make critical decisions in disaster risk reduction. The conclusion from the simulation-based learning sessions is that making simulation-based learning a part of the pedagogy of disaster risk management education enables students to gain practical experience, deliberate ethical tensions and practical dilemmas and develop the ability to work with multiple perspectives.

The simulated workplace experience allowed students to experience decision-making as disaster risk management professionals, allowing them to integrate theory with practice.