Risk Returns

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Concrete context

– Given the fact that disaster impacts are always local,

DRR education has the potential to provide a concrete context for ESD

activities. DRR education could help to contextualize the rather abstract

concept of climate change, for example, by addressing local urbaniza-

tion patterns along coastlines, the impact of agriculture and economic

development on the forest nearby or even the student’s own consump-

tion patterns.

Empowering learners

– By providing concrete tools for action

in the case of a disaster, DRR education can empower learners by

enhancing their sense of efficacy and making them feel that they

are in control of their lives. This feature of DRR education breaks

down the abstract global issues addressed by ESD into something

manageable and immediate for learners, something which they can

exercise control over and can act upon.

How DRR education benefits from ESD

Orientation, vision and context

– ESD offers a broad conceptual framework

toDRR education. Even though some current DRR educationpractices are

integrative, most would benefit frombeing associated with and informed

by an ESD approach that is more aligned with the broader picture of

sustainable development. ESD can serve as the cohesive link between

short-term post-disaster response, medium-term preparedness and the

long-termdrive towards sustainable development. ESD can thus provide

the orientation, vision and context for DRR education and, through the

mainstreaming of ESD, provide a vehicle for further integrating DRR

education into education systems struggling to come to terms with new

or more severe hazards and greater vulnerability. For example, building

skills and changing behaviours in regard to heavy rainfall are an impor-

tant part of DRR education in a flood-prone area, but such a response

may not challenge urbanization patterns along rivers or acknowledge

the ecosystem services of catchment basins upstream. Learning for DRR

in an ESD context would include a long-term perspective

with regard to the root causes and consequences of flood-

ing, thereby addressing the above-mentioned socio-natural

disasters.

Didactic and pedagogical framework

– Notwithstanding

its breadth of vision, ESD can be treated narrowly, being

confined to its content on sustainability and understood as

education about sustainable development. ESD’s real benefit

toDRR should not be limited in this way. That benefit stems

largely from the didactic and pedagogical framework in

which ESD operates, through which it builds competencies

for sustainable development: reflective learning processes;

participatory learning and the development of critical think-

ing skills; the use of holistic approaches, interdisciplinary

methods and investigatory learning such as field studies; the

inclusion of local and traditional knowledge, the history of

human activities and economic development in a locality or

region; and so forth.

Education for change, uncertainty and resourcefulness

– ESD can also be considered as education for change,

education for uncertainty or education for resourceful-

ness, oriented towards building skills and competences

that are useful in the context of globalization but can also

be of crucial importance in the short-term perspective of

a hazard. Experiences from the Kobe earthquake in 1995

show that 80 per cent of the people saved were rescued

by their neighbours and not by the authorities.

This

requires more than the learning of drills and life-saving

techniques but extends to developing attitudes, mindsets

and skills that typically are promoted by ESD, such as a

sense of responsibility and solidarity, an ability to take

action and the capacity to think independently and take

decisions in a fast-changing environment.

A winning combination

DRR relates to all three dimensions of sustainable develop-

ment, both prior to and after a hazard. This is even more

valid given that the frequency and intensity of meteorologi-

cal hazards are increasingly related to human activities and

environmental degradation. Education systems are chal-

lenged by this context and called upon to provide responses

to sustainability challenges and disaster risks.

The contribution of education systems could be made

more relevant if DRR education and ESD would integrate

some of their respective features. Both concepts can benefit

greatly from each other, both in terms of content and

methodological framework. This would help DRR educa-

tion to be more interdisciplinary, long-term oriented and

holistic in its approach to disasters. Meanwhile, ESD could

further benefit from an inclusion of DRR-related themes as

they offer a tangible operationalization which could help

convince ministries of education and other partners of its

importance and relevance today. During the remaining

years of the DESD and beyond, UNESCO will advocate

further enhancing the synergies between ESD and DRR

education in a more systematic and integrative way. This,

we believe, will be conducive to bothmore sustainability at

global and societal levels and better disaster preparedness

of communities.

Tornado Elie in Manitoba, Canada, 2007