Risk Reduction Education for Disasters

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http://www.riskred.org

Get Involved!

Contribute to school and student safety through the Risk RED's school safety activities and the Coalition for Global School Safety & Disaster Prevention Education.
Join international networks (via PreventionWeb) including the Disaster Risk Reduction Education Network and the Children and Youth in Disasters Network.
Share your online resources through a social tagging site for the disaster risk reduction education community at the Disaster Risk Reduction Library. Learn more about social tagging through a presentation from Ian O'Donnell (245 kb in PDF).

Using hands-on models to teach about school safety (Copyright IMMOD in Bodrum, Turkey).

Get involved in disaster risk reduction education!
Using hands-on models to teach about school safety by IMMOD in Bodrum, Turkey.

Risk RED in the Media

UNICEF Podcast, 9 May 2011, Risk RED Co-director Marla Petal and Risk RED Advisory Board Member Ben Wisner discuss "The role of education in protecting children when disaster strikes": Read and listen.
Travel Channel, 13 April 2011, Risk RED Co-director Marla Petal advises on travel "Tips for Earthquake and Tsunami Preparedness": Read the article.
YouTube with the World Bank, 31 January 2011, Risk RED Co-director Marla Petal is featured for "Making Schools Safer from Disasters: Global Initiatives to Scale-up Comprehensive School Safety": Watch the video.
DotEarth New York Times blog, 2 March 2010, Risk RED is highlighted in Andy Revkin's New York Times blog on being ready for disaster: Read the blog.
The Earthquake Avenger, 22 May 2009, Risk RED Co-director Marla Petal is featured in MORE Magazine: read the article and Marla's earthquake numbers.

Risk RED Purpose

Risk RED's purpose is to increase the effectiveness and impact of disaster risk reduction education. This is accomplished by bridging the gaps between idea and audience, local and non-local practitioner knowledge, content and design, and research and application.

Risk RED works with credible and legitimate international agencies, regional and local partners, research and training institutions, and activists who share our belief in the value of broad and inclusive in-reach and outreach, to share, develop, localize, disseminate and evaluate the effectiveness of public education and outreach materials for disaster risk reduction.

Risk RED facilitates information sharing globally by gathering, developing and populating a dynamic, labor-saving, multi-lingual, multiregional, multi-media content management environment for use by organizations active in disaster risk reduction. Ongoing development and design of publications and products will be applied in a digital online environment to enable rapid access to a broad variety of disaster risk reduction educational materials.

Risk RED coordinates and collaborates to develop high-quality printed and digital materials, including self-study and instructional curricula, presentations, fact-sheets, booklets, research dissemination reports, posters, games, computer games, toys, models, comics, performing and cultural arts media, press kits, and global and regional marketing strategies for disaster risk reduction education for multiple audiences.

Risk RED collaborates to determine, develop and promote good practices in translation, localization of content, and design of a wide range of print and digital media, products, and cultural arts vehicles for risk communications.

A school near Quito, Ecuador educates its pupils to live with Cotopaxi volcano.
(Copyright Ilan Kelman 2006.)

Risk RED People

Board of Directors

Risk RED is a not-for-profit corporation (501c(3)) registered in California with voluntary Board Members:
-Mark Benthien, director of communication, education, and outreach for the Southern California Earthquake Center.
-Michelle Katz, Esq., intellectual property rights lawyer.
-Prof. Dr. Art Lerner-Lam, natural hazards risk management researcher and teacher.
-Hank Ginsberg, investment banker.
-Subhash Vaid, marketing strategist.
-Paula Kaplan, social services executive manager.

Co-Directors

Marla Petal (CV) holds a Ph.D. from UCLA in Urban Planning. She brings 30 years of experience in community organization, planning and administration in social programs including 7 years in urban community-based disaster risk reduction. She has lived and/or worked in Turkey, England, Japan and the USA and has also worked throughout Central Asia and in India. Petal initiated and managed the Istanbul Community Impact Project and Basic Disaster Awareness Program in Turkish Schools projects for Bogaziçi University, and coordinated the Central Asia Earthquake Safety Initiative for GeoHazards International. Her commitment to community-based disaster mitigation is reflected in the broad range of public, non-profit and corporate stakeholders engaged in these programs. She has led participatory development of dozens of curricula and public education materials, and published and presented widely. Volunteer work includes two terms as a California School Board Member and active member of the Earthquake Engineering Research Institute.

Ilan Kelman (CV) holds a Ph.D. from Cambridge University in disaster risk reduction. He brings over a decade of experience in research and applications related to risk education especially as applied to islands. He has lived and worked in Barbados, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, Norway, the UK, and the USA while working in islands around Europe, the Pacific, and the Caribbean. Kelman has published widely in academic journals, at academic conferences, in books, and for non-scientific audiences. He has authored numerous consultancy reports, and made public presentations and media appearances around the world, He is also an accomplished photographer. Volunteer work on disaster-related topics has ranged from public first aid duties to national disaster risk reduction policies to developing a plan for local crisis preparedness.

Advisory Board Members:

Allan Lavell
Ben Wisner
Ian O'Donnell
Laura Steinberg
Susanna Hoffman

Consultants:

Amod Dixit
Bishnu Pandey (CV)
Rajib Shaw (CV)
Rebekah Green (CV)
Zeynep Türkmen (CV)

Associates:

Ali Asgary
Anup Karanth (CV)
Balaka Dey (CV)
Bijan Khazai (CV)
Bonnie Lund (CV)
Carol Kunz
Djillali Benouar (CV)
Dominic Dowling
Hilary Wallis (CV)
Jane Choi (CV)
June Kailes (CV)
Kubilay Hiçyilmaz
Manu Gupta
Matt Hoss
Megh Rai (CV)
Nevra Ertürk (CV)
Patrizia Bitter (CV)
Sanjaya Bhatia
Suheyla Sezan
Yasamin Izadkhah (CV)

Risk RED Activities

Risk RED Directors and Team Members offer expertise encompassing the following core areas:

Educational and Curriculum Materials Development, Exchange, and Evaluation
Risk RED develops educational materials with a focus on adults (the general public), children, and schools. Risk RED is an active member of the Hyogo Framework for Action, Knowledge and Education Platform, assisting in the collection of materials for the UNESCO and ISDR physical libraries for disaster risk reduction education, and supporting development of the Global Online Library for Disaster Risk Reduction Education.

For details, see Risk RED's School Safety and Educational Material.
Research Briefs and Policy Briefs, Literature Reviews, and Publications
Research and policy briefs and literature reviews are developed to bridge the gaps amongst different sectors and to link knowledge and action. These are designed to provide field workers and decision-makers with a rapid overview of research findings and links to key resources and are customized to meet client needs. Examples:
- "Risk RED Bulletin". 2007. October 2007: Communities of Practice (151 kb in PDF).
- "Risk RED Bulletin". 2008. May 2008: Guidelines for Development of Disaster Risk Reduction Public Educational Materials (67 kb in PDF), with thanks to Balaka Dey, Ilan Kelman, Bishnu Pandey, Zeynep Turkmen, and Ben Wisner.
Leadership Development and Support for Field Practitioners and Researchers in Risk Communications
Risk RED provides guidance and editing assistance for researchers and practitioners writing research briefs and case studies. For examples of research-based policy briefs from the ProVention Consortium's Applied Research Grants for Disaster Risk Reduction, see the Young Researcher Project Briefs.
Research and Strategy Development to Link Knowledge and Action
Risk RED consults in program review and strategic planning to strengthen education, training, and leadership development programs.
Consultation and Training in Community-Based Disaster Risk Reduction
Team Members and Associates are leading international consultants providing hands-on process guidance and training in core competency areas for developing, testing, and maintaining community-based disaster risk reduction programs. For example:

Petal, M. and Z. Türkmen. 2007. Disaster Resiliency for Community and Professional Responders: Participant Workbook, Developed with support from the Simon Foundation, full text (633 kb in pdf).
DREAMS: Disaster Risk Educational Materials Content Management System
The DREAMS Project is being developed to allow high quality educational materials to be shared, translated, adapted, and impact-tested, in order to scale up for wide dissemination of consistent disaster risk reduction messages to different audiences. The information architecture for DREAMS will be a dynamic, multi-lingual, multi-regional, multi-media content management database and related style sheets through which 'camera-ready' end-products can be made available for physical and electronic distribution and for adaptation for local cultures and purposes. Download the full DREAMS Concept Paper (68 kb in pdf).

Organizations interested in exploring possible collaborations for any of these activities are encouraged to contact Risk RED.

An adult and child in front of a shop in Suva, Fiji.

Less shoes, more education please (Suva, Fiji).
(Copyright Ilan Kelman 2005.)

Risk RED Publications

Risk RED Bulletins, Newsletters, and Annual Reports

Risk RED writing for others

Risk RED Bulletins, Newsletters, and Annual Reports:

Risk RED Annual Report 2006-2007. 2007. Full text (452 kb in PDF).
Risk RED Annual Report 2007-2008. 2008. Full text (459 kb in PDF).
Risk RED Annual Report 2008-2009. 2009. Full text (868 kb in PDF).
Risk RED Annual Report 2010 (As of 2010, Risk RED prepares an annual report for each calendar year). 2010. Full text (942 kb in PDF).
Risk RED Annual Report 2011. 2011. Full text (1,080 kb in PDF).
Risk RED Bulletin October 2007: Communities of Practice. 2007. Full text (151 kb in PDF).
Risk RED Bulletin May 2008: Guidelines for Development of Disaster Risk Reduction Public Educational Materials. 2008. Full text, (459 kb in PDF) with thanks to Balaka Dey, Ilan Kelman, Bishnu Pandey, Zeynep Turkmen, and Ben Wisner.
Risk RED Bulletin February 2009: Great Southern California ShakeOut 2008 - Summary. 2009. Full text (37 kb in PDF).
Risk RED Newsletter. 2006. Volume 1, Number 1, full text (900 kb in PDF).

Risk RED writing for others:

Green, R. 2008. "Informal settlements and natural hazard vulnerability in rapid growth cities", Chapter 11, pp. 218-237 in L. Bosher (ed.), Hazards and the Built Environment: Attaining Built-in Resilience, Taylor and Francis, London, U.K.
Kelman, I. (ed.). 2007. "Earthquake Safety of Schoolchildren". Special issue of Regional Development Dialogue, vol. 28, no. 2. Includes contributions from Risk RED people Ben Wisner, Bishnu Pandey, Djillali Benouar, Manu Gupta, Marla Petal, Nevra Ertürk, Rebekah Green, Sanjaya Bhatia, and Yasamin Izadkhah plus with thanks to Allan Lavell. Download the table of contents (124 kb in PDF)
Kelman, I. 2011. "Norway, islands in the sun, and climate change education". The Foreigner, 5 October 2011, full text (as a webpage).
Kelman, I. and B. Cordonnier. 2009. "Community Disaster and Sustainability Teams for Civil Protection". Geophysical Research Abstracts, vol. 11, session NH10.15/EG7 "Improving coordination between European civil protection and the scientific community" at the EGU General Assembly 2009, Vienna, Austria, 19-24 April 2009, abstract (93 kb in PDF) and full text (484 kb in PDF).
Petal, M., R. Green, I. Kelman, R. Shaw, and A. Dixit. 2008. "Community-based construction for disaster risk reduction". Chapter 10, pp. 191-217 in L. Bosher (ed.), Hazards and the Built Environment: Attaining Built-in Resilience, Taylor and Francis, London, U.K.
Petal, M. and Y.O. Izadkhah. 2008. "Concept Note: Formal and Informal Education for Disaster Risk Reduction". Prepared for the International Conference on School Safety, Islamabad, Pakistan, May 2008, full text (137 kb in PDF).
Risk RED. 2007. "Community-based Disaster Preparedness Worldwide". Poster at the Annual Hazards Research and Applications Workshop, Boulder, Colorado, USA, 11-12 July 2007, abstract (12 kb in PDF) and full text (172 kb in PDF).
Risk RED. 2007. "Risk Reduction Education for Disasters". Poster at the Annual Hazards Research and Applications Workshop, Boulder, Colorado, USA, 11-12 July 2007, abstract (12 kb in PDF) and full text (116 kb in PDF).
Sharpe, J. and I. Kelman. 2011. "Improving the disaster-related component of secondary school geography education in England". International Research in Geographical and Environmental Education, vol. 20, no. 4, pp. 327-343, abstract (8 kb in PDF).
Wisner, B., I. Kelman, T. Monk, J.K. Bothara, D. Alexander, A.M. Dixit, D. Benouar, O.D. Cardona, R.C. Kandel, and M. Petal. 2004. Report for the Radix Network, full text (461 kb in Word format).