A scoping review of youth and young adults' roles in natural disaster mitigation and response: considerations for youth wellbeing during a global ecological crisis

Abstract

Background: Youth and young adults, ages 15-29, have been identified as assets in mitigation and management for natural disasters around the world. This study reviews the literature on disaster mitigation, response, and recovery following natural disasters with a focus on the engagement of youth and young adults. Methods: The Arksey and O' Malley (2005) scoping review model was used to broadly summarize existing literature. A comprehensive electronic search was conducted using several databases. Keywords and index terms were searched using four concepts: (a) age (e.g., youth, young adult), (b) participation type (e.g., engagement, participation), (c) natural disaster type (e.g., hurricane, tsunami), and (d) disaster response type (e.g., planning, mitigation). Results: The search yielded 214 articles published between 1990 and 2021. Of these articles, 19 met inclusion criteria. Identified literature focused on youth and young adults' mitigation and recovery efforts responding to natural disasters in several different countries. Themes of young people's participation or youth-led efforts focused on community mobilization and resilience (n = 5), youth empowerment and policy advocacy (n = 2), communication technology (n = 2), education-community partnerships (n = 9), and postdisaster rescue efforts (n = 1). Conclusions: With a changing climate and increased weather-related natural disasters, as well as in the context of a global health pandemic, community-based groups would benefit from learning from international efforts to engage young people in disaster mitigation and recovery efforts especially as it relates to promoting mental health and well-being. Key Practitioner Message• Youth and young adults can play an important role in natural disaster mitigation and response.• Youth engagement principles shape how youth and young adults engage in natural disaster preparedness, mitigation, and response initiatives that are taking place in a variety of settings around the world.• Youth-led efforts have focused on community mobilization and resilience, empowerment and policy advocacy, communication technology, education-community partnerships, and postdisaster rescue efforts.• Future disaster mitigation and response efforts should be designed to include young people as well as evaluated to better understand short-and long-term impact on mental health and wellbeing.

Pelatihan Remaja Siaga Peduli Bencana Tingkat Dasar Terintegrasi Pada Ektra Kurikuler Pramuka Di Sekolah Menengah Pertama Islam Terpadu Tunas Cendikia Baturaja

“…Pendidikan mitigasi bencana bagi remaja merupakan salah satu langkah untuk mengurangi risiko bencana (Bessaha, Hayward, & Gatanas, 2022). Kesiapsiagaan bencana gempa bumi remaja sangat diperlukan untuk mengurangi risiko dampak kerugian dan jatuhnya korban apabila sewaktu-waktu terjadi bencana, karena bencana gempa bumi tidak dapat diprediksi kapan waktu terjadinya.…”

Joining the dots to reimagine community resilience: empowering young people

“…Our investigation of young people's active involvement in resilience building begins with the scoping review undertaken by Bessaha, Hayward and Gatanas (2022) that reviewed 214 articles published between 1990 and 2021. They identified a total of 19 articles that met their inclusion criteria.…”

“…The majority of articles aligned with the United Nations Youth Forum for Resilience and the broader aims of the Sendai Framework but were not explicitly a response to the framework. That review is not replicated here, but we acknowledge their findings that young people 'can be actively involved in the development, planning, and engagement of future disaster risk reduction activities and interventions' (Bessaha, Hayward & Gatanas 2022) and the call for future research to focus on young people and community resilience.…”

Improving awareness on household flood preparedness and flood-related communicable diseases among students from high schools in Yangon Region, Myanmar

“…Meanwhile, the active engagement and the roles of youths are essential for disaster risk reduction and overall personal, family, and community resilience in the future [10].…”