| 1. |
- Blösch, Günter, et al.
(författare)
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Twenty-three unsolved problems in hydrology (UPH) - a community perspective
- 2019
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Ingår i: Hydrological Sciences Journal. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0262-6667 .- 2150-3435. ; 64:10, s. 1141-1158
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- This paper is the outcome of a community initiative to identify major unsolved scientific problems in hydrology motivated by a need for stronger harmonisation of research efforts. The procedure involved a public consultation through online media, followed by two workshops through which a large number of potential science questions were collated, prioritised, and synthesised. In spite of the diversity of the participants (230 scientists in total), the process revealed much about community priorities and the state of our science: a preference for continuity in research questions rather than radical departures or redirections from past and current work. Questions remain focused on the process-based understanding of hydrological variability and causality at all space and time scales. Increased attention to environmental change drives a new emphasis on understanding how change propagates across interfaces within the hydrological system and across disciplinary boundaries. In particular, the expansion of the human footprint raises a new set of questions related to human interactions with nature and water cycle feedbacks in the context of complex water management problems. We hope that this reflection and synthesis of the 23 unsolved problems in hydrology will help guide research efforts for some years to come.
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| 2. |
- Di Baldassarre, Giuliano, et al.
(författare)
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Hess Opinions : An interdisciplinary research agenda to explore the unintended consequences of structural flood protection
- 2018
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Ingår i: Hydrology and Earth System Sciences. - : COPERNICUS GESELLSCHAFT MBH. - 1027-5606 .- 1607-7938. ; 22:11, s. 5629-5637
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- One common approach to cope with floods is the implementation of structural flood protection measures, such as levees or flood-control reservoirs, which substantially reduce the probability of flooding at the time of implementation. Numerous scholars have problematized this approach. They have shown that increasing the levels of flood protection can attract more settlements and high-value assets in the areas protected by the new measures. Other studies have explored how structural measures can generate a sense of complacency, which can act to reduce preparedness. These paradoxical risk changes have been described as "levee effect", "safe development paradox" or "safety dilemma". In this commentary, we briefly review this phenomenon by critically analysing the intended benefits and unintended effects of structural flood protection, and then we propose an interdisciplinary research agenda to uncover these paradoxical dynamics of risk.
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| 3. |
- Di Baldassarre, Giuliano, et al.
(författare)
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Multiple hazards and risk perceptions over time : the availability heuristic in Italy and Sweden under COVID-19
- 2021
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Ingår i: Natural hazards and earth system sciences. - : Copernicus Publications. - 1561-8633 .- 1684-9981. ; 21:11, s. 3439-3447
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- The severe impact of global crises, such as COVID-19 and climate change, is plausibly reshaping the way in which people perceive risks. In this paper, we examine and compare how global crises and local disasters influence public perceptions of multiple hazards in Italy and Sweden. To this end, we integrate information about the occurrence of hazardous events with the results of two nationwide surveys. These included more than 4000 participants and were conducted in two different phases of the COVID-19 pandemic corresponding to low (August 2020) and high (November 2020) levels of infection rates. We found that, in both countries, people are more worried about risks related to experienced events. This is in line with the cognitive process known as the availability heuristic: individuals assess the risk associated with a given hazard based on how easily it comes to their mind. Epidemics, for example, are perceived as less likely and more impactful in Italy compared to Sweden. This outcome can be explained by cross-country differences in the impact of, as well as governmental responses to, COVID-19. Notwithstanding the ongoing pandemic, people in both Italy and Sweden are highly concerned about climate change, and they rank it as the most likely threat.
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| 4. |
- Franceschinis, Cristiano, et al.
(författare)
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Heterogeneity in flood risk awareness : A longitudinal, latent class model approach
- 2021
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Ingår i: Journal of Hydrology. - : Elsevier. - 0022-1694 .- 1879-2707. ; 599
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Insights into the heterogeneity of human behaviours and attitudes toward risk require the understanding of the role played by a plurality of factors, such as risk awareness and trust. However, our knowledge of the interplay of these factors is limited, as is our knowledge of the patterns in risk attitudes and behaviours and their evolution over time. This study explores the interplay between attitudes and behaviours related to flood risk awareness and structural flood protection in two communities in the Eastern Italian Alps, and how they changed over time. To this end, a questionnaire was submitted to a total of 420 residents, in the year 2005 (N = 200) and 2018 (N = 220), and then analysed using Latent Class Analysis. No floods were recorded in the area during this period. The results show that there is a group of residents characterized by low risk awareness and high trust in structural flood protection. Such individuals are likely to live in urban - rather than mountain - communities and are characterized by a lack of or limited experience with floods. They are also prone to believe that such events will not happen in the future. In 2005, this group represented less than half of the sample, but its size substantially increased in 2018. This result has strong implications for local risk managers, because this group of residents is less risk aware than the others and they may deserve special attention and targeted messages in flood risk communication campaigns. This and other results are discussed, including the potential development of generalizable models to provide emergency and risk managers with tools to unveil risk awareness patterns and to tailor risk communication actions to citizens attitudes and behaviours. The paper ends with some considerations about the need not only to better understand but also to address diversity in flood risk awareness.
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| 5. |
- Mondino, Elena, et al.
(författare)
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Exploring changes in hydrogeological risk awareness and preparedness over time : a case study in northeastern Italy
- 2020
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Ingår i: Hydrological Sciences Journal. - : Informa UK Limited. - 0262-6667 .- 2150-3435. ; 65:7, s. 1049-1059
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Hydrogeological hazards are increasingly causing damage worldwide due to climatic and socio-economic changes. Building resilient communities is crucial to reduce potential losses. To this end, one of the first steps is to understand how people perceive potential threats around them. This study aims at exploring how risk awareness of, and preparedness to, face hydrological hazards changes over time. A cohort study was carried out in two villages in the northeastern Italian Alps, Romagnano and Vermiglio, affected by debris flows in 2000 and 2002. Surveys were conducted in 2005 and 2018, and the results compared. The survey data show that both awareness and preparedness decreased over time. We attribute this change to the fact that no event had occurred in a long time and to a lack of proper risk communication strategies. The outcomes of this study contribute to socio-hydrological modelling by providing empirical data on human behaviour dynamics.
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| 6. |
- Mondino, Elena, et al.
(författare)
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Longitudinal survey data for diversifying temporal dynamics in flood risk modelling
- 2021
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Ingår i: Natural hazards and earth system sciences. - : Copernicus Publications. - 1561-8633 .- 1684-9981. ; 21:9, s. 2811-2828
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Scholars have unravelled the complexities and underlying uncertainties in coupled human and water systems in various fields and disciplines. These complexities, however, are not always reflected in the way in which the dynamics of human–water systems are modelled. One reason is the lack of social data time series, which may be provided by longitudinal surveys. Here, we show the value of collecting longitudinal survey data to enrich sociohydrological modelling of flood risk. To illustrate, we compare and contrast two different approaches (repeated cross-sectional and panel) for collecting longitudinal data and explore changes in flood risk awareness and preparedness in a municipality hit by a flash flood in 2018. We found that risk awareness has not changed significantly in the timeframe under study (1 year). Perceived preparedness increased only among those respondents who suffered low damage during the flood event. We also found gender differences across both approaches for most of the variables explored. Lastly, we argue that results that are consistent across the two approaches can be used for the parametrisation of sociohydrological models. We posit that there is a need to enhance the representation of socio-demographic heterogeneity in modelling human–water systems in order to better support risk management.
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| 7. |
- Mondino, Elena, et al.
(författare)
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The Role of Experience and Different Sources of Knowledge in Shaping Flood Risk Awareness
- 2020
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Ingår i: Water. - : MDPI AG. - 2073-4441. ; 12:8
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Understanding what makes people vulnerable to flooding is key in informing the risk management process. Non-structural measures, such as risk communication, can reduce vulnerability by improving flood risk awareness, but they require a deep understanding of which factors influence risk awareness, and how. We analysed and untangled the role of experience with, and knowledge of, floods by conducting a survey in a municipality in North-eastern Italy that was hit by a flash flood in 2018. The results show that previous experience with floods influences risk awareness not only directly, but also indirectly through the knowledge that was gained from that experience. In addition, specific (as opposed to generic) definitions of experience have been found to be better suited for exploring their effects on risk awareness. Based on the literature and on our results, we propose an experience-knowledge typology to help unravel the complex role that these two variables play in shaping flood risk awareness.
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| 8. |
- Weyrich, Philippe, et al.
(författare)
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A flood-risk-oriented, dynamic protection motivation framework to explain risk reduction behaviours
- 2020
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Ingår i: Natural hazards and earth system sciences. - : Copernicus Gesellschaft mbH. - 1561-8633 .- 1684-9981. ; 20:1, s. 287-298
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Tidskriftsartikel (refereegranskat)abstract
- Private risk reduction behaviours can significantly reduce the negative impacts of flooding and flash floods. Over the past decades, researchers have used various socio-cognitive models or threat and coping mechanisms to explain individual protective behaviours. However, these models ignore the fact that people are not equally ready to act upon a danger, and they (the models) give limited insights into the effectiveness of communication strategies to foster risk reduction behaviours. Therefore, we explored the current state of homeowners' readiness to undertake risk reduction behaviours in flood risk areas by applying a dynamic protection motivation framework. We conducted a survey in an Italian municipality that experienced severe flash flooding in September 2018. The results show that people are motivated by different factors in prompting risk reduction behaviour based on their chosen types of protective measures. For example, people that undertook structural or avoidance measures are more likely to be motivated to protect themselves by increased perceptions of vulnerability and response efficacy and are less worried about expected flood losses compared to people that undertook only basic emergency measures. In this paper, we argue how these new insights contribute to targeting flood risk communication strategies to groups of individuals characterized by different readiness stages and motivations to protect themselves.
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