scholarly journals Approaches in research on flood risk perception and their importance in flood risk management: a review

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Lechowska
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Flood Risk Management ◽  
Constructivist Approach ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Information Research ◽  
Constructivist Approaches ◽  
Flood Risk Perception

AbstractThe study of flood risk perception factors can be considered by using different paradigms. In an attempt to understand risk perception, two basic paradigms can be distinguished: rationalist and constructivist. The rationalist approach tends to focus on modeling, characterizing, and predicting behavioral results regarding various threats. According to the constructivist paradigm, threats are perceived as socially constructed. This review paper aims to assess the importance of the rationalist and constructivist approaches in research on flood risk perception and flood risk management more broadly by answering the questions: (1) Which paradigm dominates the research of flood risk perception?, (2) What is the relationship between rationalistic and constructivistic factors (e.g., stimulation, weakening, strengthening, etc.)?, (3) which factors are more effective in moderating attitudes toward flood risk? The paper concludes by pointing out the desired direction of research on flood risk perception from the perspective of improving flood risk management. In contemporary empirical works managing the perception of flood risk, a rationalistic approach that psychometrically searches for cognitive models dominates. Often, statistically obtained dependencies are mutually exclusive. Studies on perception that apply the constructivist approach are in an early stage of development, nevertheless providing consistent results. They indicate that the social, political, cultural, religious, and historical contexts shape the perception of flood risk. On the basis of the aforementioned information, research on flood risk in a constructivist approach should be expanded, as it provides a clear, often underappreciated catalog of contextual factors shaping risk perception and, importantly, simultaneously moderating the influence of rationalist factors on flood risk perception.

scholarly journals Approaches in Research on Flood Risk Perception and Their Importance in Flood Risk Management

2021 ◽  
Author(s):  
Ewa Lechowska
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Early Stage ◽  
Flood Risk Management ◽  
Research Approach ◽  
Constructivist Approach ◽  
Stage Of Development ◽  
Constructivist Approaches ◽  
Flood Risk Perception

Abstract The study of flood risk perception factors can be considered by using different paradigms. In attempting to understand risk perception, two basic paradigms can be distinguished: rationalist and constructivist. The rationalist approach tends to focus on modeling, characterizing, and predicting behavioral results regarding various threats. According to the constructivist paradigm, threats are perceived as socially constructed. This paper aims to assess the importance of the rationalist and constructivist approaches in research on flood risk perception and flood risk management more broadly by answering the questions: (1) which factors are more effective in moderating attitudes towards flood risk?, (2) which research approach provides more useful information in shaping attitudes towards flood risk?, (3) research in which approach provides more useful information to improve flood risk management? The paper concludes by pointing out the desired direction of research on flood risk perception from the perspective of improving flood risk management. In contemporary empirical works managing the perception of flood risk, a rationalistic approach that psychometrically searches for cognitive models dominates. Often, statistically obtained dependencies are mutually exclusive. Thus, studies on perception that apply the constructivist approach are in an early stage of development. They indicate that the social, political, cultural, religious, and historical contexts shape the perception of flood risk. On the basis of the aforementioned information, the focus of research on flood risk should shift to studies conducted by applying the constructivist approach, highlighting the role of contextual factors in shaping risk perception.

scholarly journals How flood risks shape policies: flood exposure and risk perception in Swiss municipalities

2020 ◽  
Vol 20 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
Anik Glaus ◽  
Markus Mosimann ◽  
Veronika Röthlisberger ◽  
Karin Ingold
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
Flood Risk Management ◽  
Flood Risks ◽  
Management Measures ◽  
Flood Exposure ◽  
Management Policies ◽  
Flood Risk Perception

AbstractDespite an increasing number of people exposed to flood risks in Europe, flood risk perception remains low and effective flood risk management policies are rarely implemented. It becomes increasingly important to understand how local governments can design effective flood risk management policies to address flood risks. In this article, we study whether high flood exposure and flood risk perception correlate with the demand for a specific design of flood risk management policies. We take the ideal case of Switzerland and analyze flood risk management portfolios in 18 flood-prone municipalities along the Aare River. We introduce a novel combination of risk analysis and public policy data: we analyze correlations between recorded flood exposure data and survey data on flood risk perception and policy preferences for selected flood risk management measures. Our results indicate that local governments with high flood risk perception tend to prefer non-structural measures, such as spatial planning and ecological river restoration, to infrastructure measures. In contrast, flood exposure is neither linked to flood risk perception nor to policy preferences. We conclude that flood risk perception is key: it can decisively affect local governments’ preferences to implement specific diversified policy portfolios including more preventive or integrated flood risk management measures. These findings imply that local governments in flood-prone areas should invest in raising their population’s awareness capacity of flood risks and keep it high during periods without flooding.

scholarly journals Risk perception – issues for flood management in Europe

2012 ◽  
Vol 12 (7) ◽  
pp. 2299-2309 ◽  
Author(s):  
R. A. Bradford ◽  
J. J. O'Sullivan ◽  
I. M. van der Craats ◽  
J. Krywkow ◽  
P. Rotko ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Public Perception ◽  
Management Strategies ◽  
Flood Risk Management ◽  
Social Resilience ◽  
The Public ◽  
Management Plans ◽  
Flood Risk Management Plans

Abstract. Public perception of flood risk and flood risk information is often overlooked when developing flood risk management plans. As scientists and the public at large perceive risk in very different ways, flood risk management strategies are known to have failed in the past due to this disconnect between authorities and the public. This paper uses a novel approach in exploring the role of public perception in developing flood risk communication strategies in Europe. Results are presented of extensive quantitative research of 1375 questionnaire responses from thirteen communities at risk across six European countries. The research forms part of two research projects funded under the 2nd ERA-Net CRUE Funding Initiative: URFlood and FREEMAN. Risk perception is conceptualised as a pillar of social resilience, representing an innovative approach to the issue. From this process recommendations are identified for improving flood risk management plans through public participation.

scholarly journals How local water and waterbody meanings shape flood risk perception and risk management preferences

2019 ◽  
Vol 14 (3) ◽  
pp. 565-578 ◽  
Author(s):  
Tara Quinn ◽  
Francois Bousquet ◽  
Chloe Guerbois ◽  
Lisa Heider ◽  
Katrina Brown
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Local Water ◽  
Management Preferences ◽  
Flood Risk Perception

scholarly journals The role of risk perception in making flood risk management more effective

2013 ◽  
Vol 13 (11) ◽  
pp. 3013-3030 ◽  
Author(s):  
M. Buchecker ◽  
G. Salvini ◽  
G. Di Baldassarre ◽  
E. Semenzin ◽  
E. Maidl ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Risk Assessment ◽  
Risk Management ◽  
Risk Perception ◽  
Risk Communication ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Risk Evaluation ◽  
Flood Risk Management ◽  
Communication Process ◽  
Assessment Process ◽  
Prevention Measures

Abstract. Over the last few decades, Europe has suffered from a number of severe flood events and, as a result, there has been a growing interest in probing alternative approaches to managing flood risk via prevention measures. A literature review reveals that, although in the last decades risk evaluation has been recognized as key element of risk management, and risk assessment methodologies (including risk analysis and evaluation) have been improved by including social, economic, cultural, historical and political conditions, the theoretical schemes are not yet applied in practice. One main reason for this shortcoming is that risk perception literature is mainly of universal and theoretical nature and cannot provide the necessary details to implement a comprehensive risk evaluation. This paper therefore aims to explore a procedure that allows the inclusion of stakeholders' perceptions of prevention measures in risk assessment. It proposes to adopt methods of risk communication (both one-way and two-way communication) in risk assessment with the final aim of making flood risk management more effective. The proposed procedure not only focuses on the effect of discursive risk communication on risk perception, and on achieving a shared assessment of the prevention alternatives, but also considers the effects of the communication process on perceived uncertainties, accepted risk levels, and trust in the managing institutions. The effectiveness of this combined procedure has been studied and illustrated using the example of the participatory flood prevention assessment process on the Sihl River in Zurich, Switzerland. The main findings of the case study suggest that the proposed procedure performed well, but that it needs some adaptations for it to be applicable in different contexts and to allow a (semi-) quantitative estimation of risk perception to be used as an indicator of adaptive capacity.

The Issues and Challenges of Flood-related Agencies in Malaysia

2020 ◽  
Vol 5 (13) ◽  
pp. 285-290
Author(s):  
Nurul Ashikin Mabahwi ◽  
Hitoshi Nakamura
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Thematic Analysis ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Publishing House ◽  
Flood Risk Management ◽  
Communication Problems ◽  
Qualitative Thematic Analysis ◽  
International Publishing ◽  
The Government ◽  
Open Access Article

Objectives of this study is to identify the real issues and challenges of flood related agencies in Malaysia. By using qualitative thematic analysis, this study found that limited authorities, lack of enforcement power, lack of cooperation among agencies, lack of man-power and assets for logistics, insufficient funding for flood risk management and communication problems are the issues faced by the flood-related agencies. The government needs to solve the issues and challenges in order to strengthen the flood-related agencies capacities.Keywords: flood risk management; flood-related agencies; issues; authorityeISSN: 2398-4287 © 2020. The Authors. Published for AMER ABRA cE-Bs by e-International Publishing House, Ltd., UK. This is an open access article under the CC BYNC-ND license (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-nc-nd/4.0/). Peer–review under responsibility of AMER (Association of Malaysian Environment-Behaviour Researchers), ABRA (Association of Behavioural Researchers on Asians) and cE-Bs (Centre for Environment-Behaviour Studies), Faculty of Architecture, Planning & Surveying, Universiti Teknologi MARA, Malaysia.DOI: https://doi.org/10.21834/e-bpj.v5i13.2069

Application of scenario technique in flood risk management

2007 ◽  
Vol 56 (4) ◽  
pp. 87-95 ◽  
Author(s):  
A. Winterscheid
Keyword(s):  
Risk Management ◽  
Flood Risk ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Flood Damage ◽  
Flood Risk Management ◽  
Policy Framework ◽  
Limited Perspective ◽  
Integrated Flood Risk Management ◽  
Scenario Technique ◽  
Management Cycle

It is now commonly accepted that the management of flood risks has to be fulfilled within an integrated framework. About two decades ago flood risk was managed from a limited perspective predominantly by means of structural measures aimed at flood control. In contrast integrated flood risk management incorporates the complete management cycle consisting of the phases prevention, protection and preparedness. In theory it is a well described concept. In the stage of implementation, however, there is often a lack of support although a consistent policy framework exists. Consequently, the degree of implementation must be rated as inadequate in many cases. In particular this refers to the elements which focus on preparedness and prevention. The study to which this paper refers emphasises the means and potentials of scenario technique to foster the implementation of potentially appropriate measures and new societal arrangements when applied in the framework of integrated flood risk management. A literature review is carried out to reveal the state-of-the-art and the specific problem framework within which scenario technique is generally being applied. Subsequently, it is demonstrated that scenario technique is transferable to a policy making process in flood risk management that is integrated, sustainable and interactive. The study concludes with a recommendation for three applications in which the implementation of measures of flood damage prevention and preparedness is supported by scenario technique.

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