Children in Disaster Risk Reduction in Portugal: Policies, Education, and (Non) Participation

Abstract

International agencies and scientific research have been calling for the inclusion of children in disaster preparedness and risk reduction, to hear their voices in order to address their specific needs and vulnerabilities and harness their capabilities in terms of building community resilience. This article assesses the roles ascribed to children in policy and education for disaster risk reduction in Portugal. The approach is based on a scoping methodology that encompasses document analysis and interviews with national and local stakeholders and policymakers in the disaster risk reduction field. The research is carried out within the scope of a European funded project, CUIDAR Cultures of Disaster Resilience among Children and Young People. More specifically, the article provides an overview of the discourses on the roles ascribed to children in urban disaster risk reduction (DRR). The authors maintain that although children are often taken as a target group in urban disaster prevention and management, they are seldom considered in terms of active participation in disaster risk reduction programs in the Portuguese context. Nevertheless, our analysis shows that there is a growing awareness of the relevance of active participation by children in order to create successful DRR.

Early Childhood Disaster Management Media Through Picture Story Books

“…It has a negative impact on efforts to reduce risk and losses from natural disasters. Research conducted by (Delicado, Rowland, Fonseca, & Nunes, 2017) suggests that in Portugal, children are seen as passive participants in order to reduce the risk of natural disasters. It is caused by the frequency of occurrence of natural disasters in the country is rare.…”

Drawing on fire: children’s knowledge and needs after a wildfire disaster in Portugal

“…Following these trends, we will discuss some of the literature that focuses on children's knowledge and its contribution to disaster risk reduction. Since European projects and literature focussing on children's participation in DDR are scarce (Rodriguez-Giralt, Lopez, and Arenas 2016) and, despite the recent inclusion of a risk education framework in the official citizenship curricula, involving children as agents in disaster risk reduction is still incipient in Portugal (Delicado et al 2017), we have concentrated on studies from geographical areas in the global North, for contextual similarity. For relevance, we have also focused on the few key studies dealing with wildfire disasters and children, particularly on Towers (2015).…”

A proposal for unpacking the politics of knowledge production in disaster reduction education

“…Yet much of the literature demonstrates that children have experiences and expertise that enrich DRE (Amri et al, 2018;Haynes & Tanner, 2015;Mudavanhu et al, 2015). Children should be included in all aspects of planning for, responding to, and recovering from a disaster (Delicado, Rowland, Fonseca, & Nunes, 2017). Their specific experiences can lend insight into what they most need to prepare for and respond to disasters.…”