Search results

This study aims to identify the role of nature-related features in promoting well-being from the perspective of children as the users of post-disaster schools. It highlights the importance of connectedness to nature in design strategies for post-disaster school reconstruction.

The mixed-method study was conducted in three primary schools reconstructed after the earthquakes in Lombok (Indonesia) and Chiang Rai (Thailand) that integrated some nature-related elements in their design. The questionnaire survey explored the children’s satisfaction with the post-disaster school environment as an indication of well-being.

The findings suggest that priority in post-disaster school design strategies should incorporate nature-related design features that provide opportunities for children to be with friends and to play, to learn in comfortable and safe conditions, to interact with nature and to be in a quiet and relaxing place.

Most post-disaster reconstruction prioritizes the speed of construction rather than the spatial qualities that could help children deal with the disaster. This study provides evidence on the potential of nature-related design features to support the children’s well-being after the disaster.

An investigation of very young children’s perceptions of a natural disaster, a tornado, used a stratified random sample of 40 children, aged 4-5 years, from a population of 108 in ten classes. The study also investigated a research protocol for ascertaining prior knowledge through children’s responses: physical representation, drawing responses, and retelling of personal stories through dictating captions for drawings. Two data sets were taken soon after the tornado. The children physically represented what happens in a tornado and how one takes shelter. Drawings increased in complexity by the second data set. Children’s stories included personal experiences: houses lost or damaged, being scared, friends missing, and wanting a significant other. Researchers can use a variety of methods to investigate very young children’s prior knowledge. An implication is that disaster education has a role in early social studies education promoting meaningful understanding by children of dangers posed, protecting oneself, and coping with the aftermath. Such a role is increasingly important as recent major U.S. disasters have impacted large numbers of citizens including our very young students. Further research especially with very young children in the area of disaster and hazards education is warranted in the field of social studies education.

This paper describes the educational experiences of children and youth (aged 3–20) with disabilities during school closures resulting from the 2017 Northern California wildfires. Students with disabilities are particularly vulnerable to the adverse impacts of disaster, yet the effects of school closures on these children remains understudied. This study identifies considerations for students with disabilities and their families post-disaster.

An inductive, qualitative approach was used for the study design, methodology and analysis. In-depth interviews were conducted with parents of 14 students with disabilities about their experiences during and following school closures. All of these children had missed between a week and over a month of school as a result of the wildfires. Thematic analysis was used to code data and identify four themes present across the data.

Our findings indicate that children and youth with disabilities experienced disruptions in school-based services; lost previously acquired skills; exhibited negative health and behavioral issues; had difficulties adapting to new, unfamiliar routines and were saddened by lost social connections. Additionally, findings pinpoint the importance of social connections while schools were closed, the benefits of resuming school which included access to responsive school staff, as well as challenges faced by children with disabilities and their families once schools reopened.

Families of children with disabilities, as illustrated in this study, often must transverse a different post-disaster landscape. Schools should assist them in navigating that landscape so students with disabilities can experience a more equitable return to education post-disaster.

Children can play an active and valuable role to minimise disaster risks and vulnerabilities. Yet, peer-reviewed literature on child participation in Disaster Resilience Education (DRE) is lacking. This knowledge gap is larger in low- and middle-income countries, especially related to vulnerable communities. The current study explores how child participation in developing and delivering a DRE intervention is associated with their mental well-being and resilience.

This qualitative study is part of a larger project where a DRE intervention was co-developed and delivered by children in the informal settlements in Chennai, India, using a participatory approach. This project used qualitative methods including interviews and focus group discussions with children who co-developed the intervention, their parents and staff members of the collaborating Non-Government Organisation (NGO) to understand their experiences and inform its processes.

The children involved in the development and delivery of the intervention reported that not only did they learn the skills necessary to prepare for hazards in the future, it also increased their confidence, self-worth and self-efficacy. This was also observed by parents and staff members of the collaborating NGO. They expressed pride towards the children and applauded their ability to communicate key Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) messages with assertiveness.

There is a dearth of empirical papers on child participation in DRR activities, and this study fills some of that gap by reporting the perceived impact of children's participation on their mental well-being and resilience. Furthermore, this study can act as a roadmap for researchers aiming to do action research with children.

DRR is more effective when all stakeholders, especially the affected and at-risk children, and communities are closely involved in structuring, planning, developing and delivering key disaster preparedness messages. This study serves to show that children's participation in DRR activities not only impacts their preparedness but that it helps children in disaster recovery as well, in addition to building their resilience and overall improvement in their mental well-being.

Given the participatory nature of this study, it involves children closely in the development and delivery of DRE intervention. The communities involved in this study had complex vulnerabilities including poverty, marginalisation and based in a low-and-middle income country, India. Oftentimes, these communities are not represented in scientific literature, and this study attempts to bridge that gap.

This study presents a multi-stakeholder perspective on child participation in its potential impact on children's mental well-being and resilience. The DRE intervention was co-developed and delivered by children in the community making it unique in its development process as well as the context it was developed in – informal settlements in Chennai, India.

The purpose of this paper is to use an inclusive lens to explore pathways and considers, through the voices of children and adult participants, the complexities in implementing effective disaster risk reduction (DRR) in schools comprising children with disabilities. It identifies obstacles and suggests policy recommendations that consider their needs in DRR.

This paper draws on a case study of two schools supporting children with disabilities in the New Zealand regions of Hawke’s Bay and Auckland, each with differing experiences of past natural hazards and disasters. Data from children’s workshop activities, participant observation, semi-structured interviews, workshop photographs, school safety and policy documents were coded in Nvivo software to categorize data and to identify themes for cross-case analysis and discussion.

The research reveals three key pathways that schools can take in promoting inclusiveness in DRR. They are the provision of safe and accessible school building designs and facilities, avenues for children’s involvement and leadership in DRR initiatives, and in decision-making processes. Schools also offer opportunities for a collaborative effort towards inclusiveness in DRR within the school and with other stakeholders.

Based on the findings, the paper suggests four broad policy recommendations for consideration towards strengthening the role of schools in disability-inclusive DRR.

The paper contributes to ongoing DRR efforts and adds new information to the disaster literature on the role of schools in disability-inclusive DRR.

The Disaster Awareness Game (DAG) was designed to evaluate and promote disaster awareness among children in multicultural societies. This study seeks to discuss this.

The validation methodology was undertaken in four stages: Pre‐Test Stage – this stage is intended to evaluate the existing levels of disaster awareness among the target population using a questionnaire survey. DAG Exposure 1 – This represents the second stage of the pre‐test through exposure of the target population to the DAG. Provision of disaster information – In this stage, participants are provided with disaster management information on hazards that are pertinent to their environment. Post‐test stage – this stage was intended to evaluate the impact of the DAG and the provision of disaster information on the level of awareness among participants.

Preliminary results suggest that the tool is effective in educating children about hazards, and measuring levels of disaster awareness and is interesting enough to hold children's attention.

The present study provides a starting‐point for further research in the design and development of tools for measuring levels of disaster awareness and in educating children about disaster preparedness.

The DAG can be used as a benchmarking tool for gauging levels of diaster awareness within various groups in society (children, adults, gender, language groups etc.) or across regions in a country (rural versus urban) and in different countries in the Caribbean region (e.g. High income versus Low income) in order to determine and prioritize interventions for disaster education.

Disaster risk reduction (DRR) researchers and practitioners have found that schools can play a critical role in DRR education, with many Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) developing initiatives to actively involve children in DRR education programs. This paper reports on a case study on an innovative Chinese NGO school-based program focused on participatory child-centered DRR (PCC-DRR) education, from which a PCC-DRR education framework was developed so that similar programs could be replicated, especially in developing countries.

After nearly a year of research involving follow-up interviews, fieldwork and secondary data collection from annual reports, news reports and official websites, a case study was conducted on the PCC-DRR education program developed by the One Foundation (OF), a resource-rich NGO in China, that focused on its education strategies and project practice in Ya'an following the 2013 Lushan earthquake.

Based on constructivist theory, the OF developed a PCC-DRR education program that had four specific branches: teacher capacity building, child DRR education, campus risk management and campus safety culture, which was then implemented in 115 schools and consequently evaluated as being highly effective.

The innovative OF PCC-DRR education program adds to theoretical and practical DRR education research as a “best practice” case. Because the proposed framework is child-centered, participatory and collaborative, it provides excellent guidance and reference for countries seeking to develop school-based DRR education programs.

The purpose of this paper is to present an argument showing the importance of education as a disaster response activity, and why it must figure more prominently in financial and material support for humanitarian disasters.

A critical review of the literature and case studies that have considered humanitarian response activities is carried out, drawing together conclusions on the varied impacts of Education in Emergencies (EiE) on affected populations and identifying the need for more research in this area.

Despite rhetorical commitments to education as an emergency response activity, it is often dismissed as non-life saving, and receives the poorer share of funding and resources from humanitarian budgets. It places lower in the consciousness of states and donors than traditional response activities, yet rates highly by affected communities. However, education is both life-saving and life-sustaining when taking into account the impact of education beyond teaching and learning. The processes and effects of education as part of emergency response need to be better understood, and further research that links education and its life-saving capability will strengthen its case.

This paper argues how immediate response to restore education functions in affected communities after an emergency can significantly contribute to child protection and health. It provides compelling reasons for the status of EiE as a response activity, adding to the voice of more than 200 million people affected by disasters every year, many of whom continue to prioritise education.

Natural disasters have an enormous impact on the lives and well-being of people in many parts of the world. When a disaster occurs, it causes massive damage to people's livelihoods. Although a household is automatically disrupted after experiencing a natural disaster (floods, earthquakes, mudslides, etc.), the accessibility of food commodities is often the most negatively impacted. Since pre-disaster periods are already challenging in the context of providing sufficient food within poverty-stricken areas, natural disasters leave a trail of vulnerable and disadvantaged people who cannot acquire an adequate amount of nutritious food necessary for survival. The inability to maintain consumption levels exposes households to food insecurities – insecurities experienced particularly by women, who head households. Women are more susceptible to food scarcity and lose the ability to sustain their families’ livelihood due to the loss of seeds, livestock, and food, in general. Natural cataclysms, however, not only hamper access to nutritious food, but also considerably affect women's and children's health conditions. In countries like Tajikistan, there is a small body of research that assesses the impact of hazardous events on women's and children's health and nutrition in the aftermath of disasters. This study seeks to provide insights into the access of balanced diets to families in post-disaster situations and analyzes how disasters impact the health of affected people.

Generally, family and community have a great deal of local experience and local knowledge of disaster. Disaster education for family and community is aimed at recognizing the characteristics of a disaster and the existing social situation for the purpose of acquiring general knowledge of disasters, usually at school. Community and family structures and roles differ according to character and location such as urban, rural, coastal, near rivers, and near mountains, among others. In recent times, people's participation in the community has been affected by social changes. Earlier, historical local disaster prevention methods were passed on to other family/community members through daily activity. Recently, however, the characteristics of disasters have changed such that people now need to prepare for disasters of which they have no experience and about which they have difficulty obtaining information. It is thus necessary for communities and families to know different scenarios of disaster. “Community-Based Disaster Risk Management” is difficult to establish without linking community and household. For instance, many types of associations can be found in the community, but some do not play a direct role in disaster prevention and management. However, these associations have strong human relationships and much local knowledge. As an example, family members traditionally take care of children and old and handicapped people. Presently, lifestyles and social systems have changed such as long-distance commuting, both husband and wife working, weak family relationships, fewer children, aging, and unstable economies, among others. It is therefore necessary to carry out disaster prevention education aimed at building local capacity for disaster prevention, after determining the situation in the community and family and the roles people in the community play.