Disaster Risk Reduction Education: Tensions and Connections with Sustainable Development Goals

Valeria M. Cabello, Karina D. Véliz, Ana M. Moncada-Arce, María Irarrázaval García-Huidobro and Felipe Juillerat
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Valeria M. Cabello: Facultad de Educación and Research Center for Integrated Disaster Risk Management (CIGIDEN), Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 7820436, Chile
Karina D. Véliz: School of Industrial Engineering, Universidad Diego Portales, Santiago 8370190, Chile
Ana M. Moncada-Arce: Departamento de Estudios Pedagógicos, Universidad de Chile, Santiago 7800284, Chile
María Irarrázaval García-Huidobro: Independent Researcher, Santiago 7560969, Chile
Felipe Juillerat: Facultad de Economía y Administración, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, Santiago 7820436, Chile

Sustainability, 2021, vol. 13, issue 19, 1-18

Abstract: In the last decades, environmental risks and threats have increased human exposure to natural hazards, often affecting the quality of life, especially for vulnerable groups. This article explores the tensions and connections within educational research concerning disaster risk reduction (DRRE) in relation to Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). Twenty-seven articles published between 2014 and 2020 in various geographic regions regarding disaster risk reduction (DRR) were reviewed, finding that (a) the participation of children, youth, families, and the community is central; (b) non-formal and informal education are equally as relevant as formal education; (c) DRR initiatives can favor broader objectives, such as reducing poverty or advancing towards sustainable communities; and (d) achieving community resilience in the face of socio-natural disasters requires local voices for the design, implementation, and scaling of strategies. However, certain tensions were also found due to the lack of emphasis on the crucial areas of SDGs, which are related to a comprehensive notion of well-being and health education, including mental health and a gender approach, the limited mitigation of risk aggravating factors arising from extreme poverty and the climate crisis, the disconnection between modern and ancestral knowledge, the “top-down” versus “bottom-up” approach in the generation of local solutions, the role of education on disaster risk reduction as a risk mitigation factor, and the requirements to adjust the curriculum synchronously to global environmental needs, are all discussed, thus highlighting and encouraging the urgent cultural changes needed in the Anthropocene era that can be triggered through disaster risk reduction education.

Keywords: disaster risk reduction; education; sustainable development goals (search for similar items in EconPapers)
JEL-codes: O13 Q Q0 Q2 Q3 Q5 Q56 (search for similar items in EconPapers)
Date: 2021
References: View references in EconPapers View complete reference list from CitEc
Citations: View citations in EconPapers (2)

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