On April 20th, the Bonn Network, as part of the “Risk Communication (RC)” working group held a workshop aimed at improving risk communication among the population. The workshop was organised by the DKKV and attended by members of both the DKKV and the Bonn Network. Durga Mohanakrishnan and Benni Thiebes led the workshop.
The session began with a brief overview of the aim and objectives of the new working group followed by Durga Mohanakrishnan presentation on the project “Disaster Risk Communication and Community Preparedness”. The project aims to collect information and actions from different countries to prevent the impact of disasters through risk communication and preparedness. During the event, Neysa Setiadi, a representative of Aktion Deutschland Hilft e.V., provided a concise overview of their initiatives aimed at reaching and empowering vulnerable groups in Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR). The presentations were followed by a lively discussion among the workshop participants. Here, the inclusion of different social groups in the search for solutions to improve risk communication among the population was discussed as well as the consideration of a context-specific RC. But also, the question: How and what do we want to communicate in order to act? encouraged the participants to discuss the issue.
Based on the results of the discussion, the first exciting ideas of the Risk Communication WG were recorded. These ideas will be taken up and fleshed out in the next workshop.
Anyone interested in participating in further workshops and/or the Risk Communication WG is welcome to contact Melissa Schönholz at the Network Secretariat (info@bonn-network.org). Suggestions, ideas or needs can also be sent to the network secretariat.