Igniting Risk Communication? – Organizational factors for effective risk communication: Forest fire risk communication in Canton Bern, Switzerland
(2022) VBRM15 20221Division of Risk Management and Societal Safety
- Abstract
- Risk communication forms an integral part of disaster preparedness. In light of the increasing likelihood and intensity of forest fires, areas like Canton Bern in Switzerland, not usually known as a forest fire hotspot, have planned to strengthen their risk communication efforts to help increase overall preparedness and mitigation. Using the example of forest fires, this paper will shed light on the actors that organizations dealing with risk communication could fulfill in order to make such communication possible in the first place. The theoretical and conceptual basis for the general research work was established through communication models by Shannon and Weaver (1949) and the Convergence Model by Kincaid (1979). A scoping study will... (More)
- Risk communication forms an integral part of disaster preparedness. In light of the increasing likelihood and intensity of forest fires, areas like Canton Bern in Switzerland, not usually known as a forest fire hotspot, have planned to strengthen their risk communication efforts to help increase overall preparedness and mitigation. Using the example of forest fires, this paper will shed light on the actors that organizations dealing with risk communication could fulfill in order to make such communication possible in the first place. The theoretical and conceptual basis for the general research work was established through communication models by Shannon and Weaver (1949) and the Convergence Model by Kincaid (1979). A scoping study will summarize existing findings in the literature on organizational factors for risk communication. Following, qualitative semi structured interviews with risk communication practitioners from Canton Bern were used to discuss the requirements for risk communication proposed by the scientific literature and the requirements and factors necessary in practice. Findings of this data collection and discussion include a strong overlap in the importance of inter- and intra-organizational cooperation. Differences encompass the creation and implementation of a comprehensive risk communication strategy and ideas and concepts of how to include the public in risk communication endeavors. (Less)
- Popular Abstract
- In the light of climate change, forest fire preparedness becomes more important. Risk communication could help with this preparedness. But what factors of the communicator are necessary to communicate this increasing risk effectively?
Imagine you are walking down a pedestrian street on a summer day. The street is full of people running errands and enjoying the sun. Suddenly, the person in front of you is bumped by a pickpocket who pilfers their purse. It all happens extremely quickly; you are unable to react. You find yourself turning, only to catch a glimpse of the thief disappearing around the corner. Completely shocked, you turn back to the victim.
Perhaps you have seen situations like this on TV before, or read about them in a... (More) - In the light of climate change, forest fire preparedness becomes more important. Risk communication could help with this preparedness. But what factors of the communicator are necessary to communicate this increasing risk effectively?
Imagine you are walking down a pedestrian street on a summer day. The street is full of people running errands and enjoying the sun. Suddenly, the person in front of you is bumped by a pickpocket who pilfers their purse. It all happens extremely quickly; you are unable to react. You find yourself turning, only to catch a glimpse of the thief disappearing around the corner. Completely shocked, you turn back to the victim.
Perhaps you have seen situations like this on TV before, or read about them in a book, yet you were completely paralyzed when it happened right in front of you. Why is that? Why did you not make yourself heard, grab the thief or sprint after them? The answer may be that you just had not been exposed to such a situation in real life before. A similar dilemma applies to the population of Canton Bern in Switzerland in relation to forest fires. Forest fires in Canton Bern are rare; hence the local population has low exposure to such a hazard and correspondingly minimal knowledge and experience. Due to climate change, forest fire risk in the region is expected to increase. Consequently, risk communication to mitigate forest fires is of growing importance.
Most often, risk communication is analyzed with a focus on either the content and form of risk communication or its recipients. Little attention is given to the communicators’ perspective. This thesis investigates what organizational factors are needed for successful risk communication. It compares findings of scientific literature for risk communication with those deemed necessary by practitioners. The main results show a strong similarity in the importance of inter- and intra-organizational factors and reveal a significant difference in the presence of a risk communication strategy and the direct involvement of target groups in the risk communication. The results imply that although the findings in the scientific literature paint a perfect picture of organizational factors necessary for risk communication, not all of them are easily applicable in practice. Some of this is due to the different cultural and geographical contexts of the scientific literature versus practice. Overall, this thesis would like to encourage more research in the field of risk communication, especially in the European forest fire context. Let’s ignite risk communication and to keep forests from being ablaze. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
http://lup.lub.lu.se/student-papers/record/9102383
- author
- Lühmann, Momo Paula LU
- supervisor
-
- Tove Frykmer LU
- organization
- course
- VBRM15 20221
- year
- 2022
- type
- H2 - Master's Degree (Two Years)
- subject
- keywords
- forest fire, risk communication, organization, communicator, scoping study, Switzerland
- language
- English
- additional info
- This project was done in collaboration with the Centre of Development (CDE) at University Bern, Switzerland and supported by funds from the Crafoord Travel Grant by Lund University.
- id
- 9102383
- date added to LUP
- 2022-10-28 14:53:59
- date last changed
- 2022-11-01 03:40:56
@misc{9102383,
abstract = {{Risk communication forms an integral part of disaster preparedness. In light of the increasing likelihood and intensity of forest fires, areas like Canton Bern in Switzerland, not usually known as a forest fire hotspot, have planned to strengthen their risk communication efforts to help increase overall preparedness and mitigation. Using the example of forest fires, this paper will shed light on the actors that organizations dealing with risk communication could fulfill in order to make such communication possible in the first place. The theoretical and conceptual basis for the general research work was established through communication models by Shannon and Weaver (1949) and the Convergence Model by Kincaid (1979). A scoping study will summarize existing findings in the literature on organizational factors for risk communication. Following, qualitative semi structured interviews with risk communication practitioners from Canton Bern were used to discuss the requirements for risk communication proposed by the scientific literature and the requirements and factors necessary in practice. Findings of this data collection and discussion include a strong overlap in the importance of inter- and intra-organizational cooperation. Differences encompass the creation and implementation of a comprehensive risk communication strategy and ideas and concepts of how to include the public in risk communication endeavors.}},
author = {{Lühmann, Momo Paula}},
language = {{eng}},
note = {{Student Paper}},
title = {{Igniting Risk Communication? – Organizational factors for effective risk communication: Forest fire risk communication in Canton Bern, Switzerland}},
year = {{2022}},
}