From geoscientific "matters of fact" to societal "matters of concern": a transdisciplinary training approach to communicating earthquake risk in Istanbul (Turkey)

Abstract

Abstract. An important paradox of hazard communication is that the more effectively a potential physical threat is made public by the scientist, the more readily the scientific message becomes normalised into the daily discourses of ordinary life. As a result, a heightened risk awareness does not necessarily motivate personal or collective preparedness. If geoscientists are to help at-risk communities adopt meaningful measures to protect themselves, new strategies are needed for public communication and community engagement. This paper outlines an attempt to develop a transdisciplinary approach to train geoscientists, using early career researchers in an EU integrated training network studying tectonic processes and geohazards in Turkey. An urban field visit to seismically-vulnerable neighbourhoods in Istanbul allowed a group of young geoscience researchers to meet with local residents facing the seismic threat. Those meetings exposed the complex social, political and cultural concerns among Istanbul's at-risk urban communities. These concerns were used to provoke subsequent roundtable discussions among the group of geoscientists about the roles and responsibilities of communicating hazard information to the public. Through the direct testimony of local residents and geoscientists, we explore the form that new strategies for public communication and community engagement might take

Geonews: Timely Geoscience Educational YouTube Videos about Recent Geologic Events

“…emphasizing what people should do during a geologic disaster and how to be resilient afterwards (Rosenbaum and Culshaw, 2003;Forster and Freeborough, 2006;Ickert and Stewart, 2016;Kelly and Ronan, 2018). With the development of the internet, computers and smartphones, social media is increasingly acknowledged as a key tool for the communication and education activities of emergency agencies.…”