Bridging warning and adaptation addressing risk communication strategies for short-term natural hazard warnings and long-term risk adaptation – A scoping review

This scoping review analyzes 194 peer-reviewed studies to examine how risk communication strategies (RCS) vary across temporal dimensions (short-term, long-term, hybrid), hazard groups (atmospheric, geophysical, hydrological, biophysical, multiple hazards) and intended purpose.Existing research often treats risk communication as a uniform process, lacking in systematic differentiation between short-term warnings and long-term adaptation strategies.  Communication goals are categorized through an inductively developed approach: “Act, Prepare, and Aware” (APA), and mapped across four major hazard groups. Across hazard types, atmospheric hazards are predominantly addressed through hybrid (41 %) and short-term (25 %) strategies. Geophysical hazards are strongly associated with hybrid approaches (43 %). Hydrological hazards display the widest variation across temporal categories. Purely long-term formats, however, are rarely found across all hazard types (1.4 %), despite their strategic importance for resilience. 

The results of this review indicate that RCS are closely linked to the nature of specific hazards, as well as to temporal formats and communication objectives (APA). Hybrid strategies, which combine short-term warnings with long-term education and resilience building, prove to be promising approaches for sustainable communication, especially in the context of geophysical hazards. Based on the findings, practical implications for policy and implementation, particularly regarding hybrid RCS, can be derived. Local governments can support such strategies by embedding early warnings into broader communication infrastructures that include long-term awareness and preparedness programs, such as education programs, participatory planning, or trusted intermediaries. At the national level, some frameworks implemented multi-temporal elements by combining short-term and long-term, and participatory, community-centered warning system designs (hybrid). However, the implementation remains fragmented due to institutional complexity and unclear responsibility allocations across stakeholders.