Community aptitude for learning related to empowerment processes

An important factor to be considered in this frame, is the community aptitude for learning processes (e.g., learn to help oneself) that can help a lot a people empowerment process. Beyond some mentions in the literature, this factor is quoted, explicitly, in 5 cases. It represents a "core" issue in the cases related to the Saxony river floods-DE, the Lodz Learning Alliance-PL, the heat waves in London-UK, the floods in Cumbria/Northern England-UK, while it appears as much less important (but quoted) in the case of the Citizen Observatory of Barcelona-ES. This aptitude tends to generate not only a cumulative learning from the past disasters' experiences (e.g., the long history of river floods in Saxony-DE), but also a social learning (e.g., in Lodz-PL, London-UK and Cumbria/Northern England-UK) through a strong interaction among the involved societal actors that can be both formal and non-formal (e.g., in London-UK).

Note: See source document for full reference.

Cultural Factors: Open-mindedness, Individual/collective memory

Hazards: Natural hazards

Disaster Phases: All disaster phases, Prevention, Preparedness, Response, Recovery

Types of Actors Concerned: Non-active citizens

Recommendations:

• Foster the adoption of a culture of disaster prevention and resilience by informing and motivating citizens to take action