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School-based disaster preparedness: a route to societal resilience? The case study of Ljungby municipality, Sweden

Covaciu, Andra LU (2020) VBRM15 20201
Division of Risk Management and Societal Safety
Abstract
Children are valuable resources when it comes to disaster preparedness and they should no longer be seen as vulnerable. Since they spend about five days a week in school for almost the whole year, it is natural to consider preparing them for hazards while there. The purpose of the present research is to explore the perceived importance and feasibility of implementing school-based disaster preparedness (SBDP) in Sweden by the means of a case study of Ljungby municipality. Through the means of semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and secondary data, the author aims at understanding how the respondents - students and school staff - perceive SBDP, whether they see it as useful for their schools and how this type of disaster preparedness... (More)
Children are valuable resources when it comes to disaster preparedness and they should no longer be seen as vulnerable. Since they spend about five days a week in school for almost the whole year, it is natural to consider preparing them for hazards while there. The purpose of the present research is to explore the perceived importance and feasibility of implementing school-based disaster preparedness (SBDP) in Sweden by the means of a case study of Ljungby municipality. Through the means of semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and secondary data, the author aims at understanding how the respondents - students and school staff - perceive SBDP, whether they see it as useful for their schools and how this type of disaster preparedness can contribute to their municipality’s resilience. The study concludes that the respondents understand the importance of SBDP and would like the administration to focus more on creating crisis plans for each school, as well as on both a short- and long-term strategic preparedness. In addition, a shift in focus from training only staff to including students as valuable resources and considering their levels of preparedness is noticed, as well as the need to increase the awareness regarding the available SBDP items in each school. The existent crisis plans might need additional consideration in order to ensure their adaptability to schools’ needs, capacities, lessons learnt and locations. Further studies are needed in regard to whether students-aimed SBDP can be used for creating a sustainable SBDP culture within communities, municipalities and later on, entire countries. (Less)
Abstract (Swedish)
I stället för att se barn som offer i kriser skulle man kunna använda deras anpassningsförmåga och förändringsvilja som resurser i krisberedskapsprocesserna. Ett sätt att öka samhällets motståndskraft kan vara att lägga till krisberedskap i skolans läroplan (s.k. School-based Disaster Preparedness, SBDP).
Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka uppfattningar om SBDP i Sverige genom en fältstudie i Ljungby kommun. Studien utgår från tre frågeställningar:
- Hur viktigt anser respondenterna att SBDP är för Ljungby kommun, och vilka aspekter av SBDP anser de är viktigast för kommunen att rikta sin uppmärksamhet mot?
- Vilka SBDP-åtgärder har vidtagits av kommunen och vilken beredskapsförmåga (använd och oanvänd) finns hos de deltagande... (More)
I stället för att se barn som offer i kriser skulle man kunna använda deras anpassningsförmåga och förändringsvilja som resurser i krisberedskapsprocesserna. Ett sätt att öka samhällets motståndskraft kan vara att lägga till krisberedskap i skolans läroplan (s.k. School-based Disaster Preparedness, SBDP).
Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka uppfattningar om SBDP i Sverige genom en fältstudie i Ljungby kommun. Studien utgår från tre frågeställningar:
- Hur viktigt anser respondenterna att SBDP är för Ljungby kommun, och vilka aspekter av SBDP anser de är viktigast för kommunen att rikta sin uppmärksamhet mot?
- Vilka SBDP-åtgärder har vidtagits av kommunen och vilken beredskapsförmåga (använd och oanvänd) finns hos de deltagande skolorna?
- På vilka sätt kan SBDP bidra till kommunens eller samhällets motståndskraft?
Frågorna besvaras genom 16 semistrukturerade intervjuer med skolpersonal och tjänstepersoner inom kommunens skolförvaltning, en enkät som fyllts i av 50 elever samt en analys av relaterade dokument, till exempel skolornas krisplaner och vägledande dokument från svenska myndigheter. Baserat på analysens resultat, är uppsatsens slutsats att respondenterna är medvetna om SBDP:s betydelse. Vidare har respondenterna tydliga förväntningar på kommunen när det gäller beslut som kan påverka deras säkerhet på kort och lång sikt. Dessutom bekräftar studien behovet av att inkludera eleverna i utbildningar och aktiviteter inom krisberedskap, med hänsyn till deras ålder och kapacitet. Uppsatsen visar också att krisplanerna måste anpassas utifrån skolornas behov och kapacitet för att säkerställa att de är hållbara och realistiska.
Sist men inte minst, bör ytterligare studier genomföras angående hur denna åtgärd kan bidra till att skapa en långvarig krisberedskapskultur i Sveriges kommuner, eftersom SBDP är ett ganska nytt ämne. (Less)
Popular Abstract
Preparing children and youth for disasters might be key to creating resilient and sustainable societies

According to the United Nations, children and youth are the category of people most affected by disasters each year. It is therefore vital to teach them how to react in case a crises, in order to decrease their vulnerability and help them turn from passive victims into essential contributors to disaster risk reduction.

We have all heard of Greta Thunberg and her untiring calls for environmental protection. Whether we agree with the way she forwards her message or not, she is a child and her efforts have proven one more time that children are our future and they should always be taken into consideration when talking about... (More)
Preparing children and youth for disasters might be key to creating resilient and sustainable societies

According to the United Nations, children and youth are the category of people most affected by disasters each year. It is therefore vital to teach them how to react in case a crises, in order to decrease their vulnerability and help them turn from passive victims into essential contributors to disaster risk reduction.

We have all heard of Greta Thunberg and her untiring calls for environmental protection. Whether we agree with the way she forwards her message or not, she is a child and her efforts have proven one more time that children are our future and they should always be taken into consideration when talking about sustainability, resilience and adaptation.
Both children and youth are valuable resources when it comes to disaster preparedness and they should no longer be seen as vulnerable. Instead of viewing them as vulnerable and passive objects of protection, it is now time to use their adaptability and readiness for change as resources to enhance disaster preparedness and societal resilience at large.

Prepared children, resilient societies

In order to decrease families’ vulnerabilities, increase communities’ resilience and accelerate recovery processes, it is crucial to enhance children and youth’s capacity to react to unexpected situations. Since schools are the place where they spend most of their time, it is essential to use these establishments as venues where youth and children are empowered to get ready for disasters.
Schools are seen as key resources in enforcing societal resilience, due to their influence into the wider community and their capacities for creating resilient disaster preparedness cultures within communities, municipalities and by extension, entire countries.

Exploring the importance of school-based disaster preparedness

The importance of school-based disaster preparedness is given not only by the fact that children’s education is primordial to their development, but also that the current amount and frequency of natural hazards generate the need for new strategies to reduce their negative impacts.

The present thesis explores the perception of school-based disaster preparedness in Sweden, through a case study of Ljungby municipality. This is primarily done through interviews and questionnaires, complemented by an analysis of crisis-related documents produced by Swedish authorities.

Conclusion

The thesis concludes that the value of school-based disaster preparedness is acknowledged by the participants of the study, and that they have clear expectations on the municipality in terms of future development, which must include both short- and long-term planning. Moreover, the need to focus more on students’ inclusion in disaster preparedness activities, while considering their age and needs has also been underlined by the thesis’s results. Constantly updating crisis plans based on the needs and capacities of each school is also to be taken into consideration by schools’ management and municipalities. Overall, the thesis suggests a number of measures to initiate and strengthen school-based disaster preparedness programs, as well as avenues for further research on how such programs can be used to strengthen societal resilience. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
author
Covaciu, Andra LU
supervisor
organization
course
VBRM15 20201
year
type
H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
subject
keywords
disaster risk management (DRM), school-based disaster preparedness (SBDP), climate change adaptation (CCA), societal resilience, students-aimed SBDP
language
English
id
9015644
date added to LUP
2020-06-11 15:39:37
date last changed
2020-06-11 15:39:37
@misc{9015644,
  abstract     = {{Children are valuable resources when it comes to disaster preparedness and they should no longer be seen as vulnerable. Since they spend about five days a week in school for almost the whole year, it is natural to consider preparing them for hazards while there. The purpose of the present research is to explore the perceived importance and feasibility of implementing school-based disaster preparedness (SBDP) in Sweden by the means of a case study of Ljungby municipality. Through the means of semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and secondary data, the author aims at understanding how the respondents - students and school staff - perceive SBDP, whether they see it as useful for their schools and how this type of disaster preparedness can contribute to their municipality’s resilience. The study concludes that the respondents understand the importance of SBDP and would like the administration to focus more on creating crisis plans for each school, as well as on both a short- and long-term strategic preparedness. In addition, a shift in focus from training only staff to including students as valuable resources and considering their levels of preparedness is noticed, as well as the need to increase the awareness regarding the available SBDP items in each school. The existent crisis plans might need additional consideration in order to ensure their adaptability to schools’ needs, capacities, lessons learnt and locations. Further studies are needed in regard to whether students-aimed SBDP can be used for creating a sustainable SBDP culture within communities, municipalities and later on, entire countries.}},
  author       = {{Covaciu, Andra}},
  language     = {{eng}},
  note         = {{Student Paper}},
  title        = {{School-based disaster preparedness: a route to societal resilience? The case study of Ljungby municipality, Sweden}},
  year         = {{2020}},
}