Disaster prevention strategies, based on an education information system

Abstract

Earthquake damage includes non-structural failure, failure of utility systems and, infrastructure, loss of function and other non-structural damage. Occupants, building owners, insurance companies, building inspectors and others, through their use of the buildings, systems and content, can affect the risk of such negative events. Thus, a prerequisite for more effective disaster risk reduction is increased risk awareness amongst people and in the community and state development planning process, the educational curriculum, and media. As knowledge is clearly connected with understanding risks, the perception of natural hazards and risks in the local environment should be developed with the help of education. This paper presents a comparative study of the current educational curriculum on natural hazards within the school systems in four European countries: Italy, Portugal, Spain and Iceland. None of the countries provides courses dedicated to this topic but include it within other subjects, most often in the natural sciences.