New Resource Available – Exercises for Integrating Principles into Risk Communication Practice

The Natural Hazards Center at the University of Colorado Boulder, with support from the USACE National Flood Risk Management Program team, has completed a new risk communication resource for flood management practitioners  - Principles of Risk Communication Worksheets: Exercises for Integrating Principles into Risk Communication Practice. The booklet contains five worksheets that guide the practitioner through a series of questions and exercises to apply three key risk communication principles and to plan for and later evaluate risk communication activities. This newest resource complements a risk communication principles guide and annotated bibliography published in September 2020 (see Principles of Risk Communication Guide: A Guide to Communication with Socially Vulnerable Populations Across the Disaster Lifecycle and Risk Communication Involving Vulnerable Populations: An Annotated Bibliography).

In general, the principles and exercises are applicable to all risk communication activities. However, they were designed to assist the practitioner with implementing effective risk communication messaging that reach populations that tend to experience disproportionate disaster impacts because of historical, social, economic and political considerations. Each worksheet is organized into three steps. Each step includes a series of questions, Quick Tips that highlight important topics associated with a principle, and links to Featured Resources that can facilitate completion of the exercises and the communication effort.   

The collaborative partnership between USACE and the Natural Hazards Center was established through an interagency agreement between USACE and the National Science Foundation as the granting agency for the Natural Hazards Center Clearinghouse. The Natural Hazards Center is the nation’s National Science Foundation-designated information clearinghouse for natural hazards societal dimensions. Under this agreement, the Natural Hazards Center will next develop a series of training sessions in 2022 to assist practitioners with application of the guide’s principles and worksheet exercises.

For questions or comments about these documents, please email IWR.SilverJackets@usace.army.mil.

Additional information can be found on-line about the Natural Hazards Center development of these risk communication documents.