From knowledge to action: Communication for a safer world
Background
Disaster risk is changing rapidly, as climate change alters the intensity, frequency and geography of hazards. At the same time, risk is becoming more complex, shaped by rapid urbanization, environmental degradation, conflict and fragility. Hazards are increasingly overlapping and compounding, exposing communities to risks they may have little experience of. In parallel, unequal access to information, harmful information, language and accessibility barriers, and vulnerabilities in the media sector and telecommunications infrastructure can affect whether and how people receive, understand and act on risk information.
The event is organized by the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNDRR), UNESCO and the International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC), with support from the Government of Switzerland. The sessions will examine whether current approaches to disaster risk reduction adequately account for information risks and communication vulnerabilities; whether public institutions, media and telecommunications systems are prepared to communicate effectively before and during crises; and how behavioural, inclusive and culturally grounded approaches can improve the way people understand and respond to risk.
It will bring together risk practitioners, researchers, journalists and media organizations, regulators, international organizations and other actors from Geneva and beyond. Risk communication will be considered as part of disaster risk governance and preparedness, including information access, strategic communication, media preparedness and resilience, telecommunications systems, behavioural science, cultural knowledge and inclusive participation.