Memo Risks, my city is getting ready

Background

The association Prevention2000 is organizing a national contest in France during the academic year 2012/2013, in partnership with The Foundation “La main à la Pâte (The hands on).The contest is about prevention of natural disasters. It is addressed jointly to municipalities and primary schools and invites them to work together on a local risk and has the support of the UNISDR and UNESCO.

Why this competition?

• In France, 1/3 of the cities is concerned by a natural hazard and the mayor is in charge of risk awareness. The school, meanwhile, must ensure a risk education.
So there is a coincidence of objectives between the municipalities and schools.
• The UNISDR launched the campaign, “My city is getting ready!” which will last until 2015.
• This campaign addresses issues of local governance and urban risk worldwide.
• It offers a list of 10 key points to make cities more resilient to natural hazards.
• The goal of the contest is to encourage municipalities to work towards achieving one or more of these 10 points.

What is the purpose of the contest?

The contest takes place in the context of two educational projects associated

• Memo'Risks was designed by the association Prevention2000 and was designated UNESCO pilot project in 2009 at the World Conference on ESD, and “Good Practice 2010”for the UNISDR. Memo'Risks offers students a methodology to collect the memory of past disasters and surveying the population on the perception of a local risk.
• “When the earth rumbles” is a book for teachers, designed jointly by the Foundation La main à la Pâte and the association Prevention2000. It offers a coherent program, 'turnkey' to provide an Education at Risk as a part of an Education for Sustainable Development.
Published in April 2012, the book has already been ordered by over 4,000 teachers

How is the contest valued ?

• The winners and all partners will be invited to UNESCO Paris in June 2013 for the awards.
• The evidence on the memory of the risks raised by the classes will be published on the website of the Institute for the history and memory of disasters http://memoiredescatastrophes.org
• The participating municipalities will be promoted during the International Day for Natural Disaster Prevention in October 2013, and will officially join the ISDR campaign.

A complete file of information to communities and academies are available on the dedicated website (in french).