Awareness, education and communication for compound natural hazards

Research on disaster management in Australia has noted the inadequacy of preparedness and response when disasters overlap, closely follow each other sequentially, or confound each other with cascading and interconnected risks. In a changing climate, compound natural hazards have become the lived experience of many Australian communities. It is now crucial to build community awareness of these hazards. Despite this imperative, little research has been done to establish best practice for engaging with communities in a way that enhances their preparedness for, survival through and recovery from compound natural hazards.

This study stems from the initiative of emergency managers across Australia who aimed to determine whether communication and engagement with communities differ when hazards are multiple and compounding. To date, communication and engagement processes have tended to assume that disasters are singular, discrete events. In this context, communication on specific, single hazards has often been the responsibility of particular agencies, with little holistic discussion of how hazards may interact. However, with many hazards increasing in frequency and/or intensity and overlapping due to climate change, there is a clear need for all-hazard, all-agency community engagement strategies that consider the complexities of the communication landscape in a compound hazard environment.

This report presents the results of an 18-month study to unpack the specific requirements of compound hazard communication and engagement. The study began with a systematic review of global literature on communicational responses to compound hazards. The research found that use of the term ‘compound natural hazards’ is not widespread, nor is there an agreed-upon definition of what constitutes these hazards. It also found that communication and awareness-raising activities are now crucial, in the context of accelerating hazard risk – but there is no existing framework or set of guidelines for community engagement on compound hazards.

This project therefore undertook fieldwork in three compound hazard-impacted communities in the states of Victoria, New South Wales and Queensland. These locations had all been impacted by multiple hazards within a short timeframe, or by two different hazards at the same time. Here, the research team asked people about their experiences of communication and engagement before, during and after these hazards. A methodology combining surveys, interviews and community forum-style focus group discussions allowed us to determine what worked for hazard communication in each location and how communication and engagement might have been done better to help these communities prepare for, live through and recover from compound hazards. The research also aimed to unpack how good communication could better support the building of resilience. Research to date, focused mainly on single hazards, has shown that hazard communication and engagement strategies should emphasise familiarity with communities and seek to build relationships with them. In a compound hazard-affected community, people may be preparing for a new disaster at the same time as responding to a current one, while still recovering from events recently passed, the impacts of which may be enduring. This research found that such increased exposure and vulnerability makes communication and engagement for compound natural hazards qualitatively different – and even more crucial. In this context, a one-way, top-down approach to communication is less effective and the need for local knowledge, two-way communication, reciprocity, relationship-building and listening, is amplified.

This report presents research into the distinct needs, barriers and opportunities associated with engaging communities around compound natural hazards. In response to these needs, a novel framework is presented, co-constructed with communities, to guide better-practice compound hazard engagement. The framework is intended for use by emergency management, but it will also be useful for any of the wide spectrum of communicators who must work with communities for hazard preparedness, response and recovery. This report shows that, in a changing climate, engaging communities on compound hazard risk is crucial. Such engagement will be fundamental to resilience building in a future of escalating hazard risk.