Abstract

The aim of quantitative research is a scientific explication of the effects of certain demographic, socio-economic and psychological citizens characteristics on citizens’ education in Serbia about floods. It is because of that that during the whole of 2015, a series of 2,500 face-to-face interviews was conducted in 19 out of the 190 municipalities of the Republic of Serbia. The study population consisted of all adult residents of the local communities in which floods occurred, and the sample size complied with the geographical and demographic size of the community. Results of the descriptive statistical analysis showed 24.9% of respondents were educated about natural disasters at school, 40.2% in the family, 29.9% at work, 39.9% of respondents know where elderly, disabled and infants live, 14% noted that they knew the risks of floods, etc. The research findings indicated that there is a statistically significant correlation between the level of knowledge about natural disasters and sex, age, marital status levels of education, fear of disaster, previous experience and income level. On the other hand, education at school, within the family, and at work is statistically significantly associated with age, level of education, marital status and employment status. The awareness of where the elderly, disabled and infants live was not statistically significantly related to sex, level of education, marital status and previous experience. The research indicates how to raise the level of citizens’ knowledge starting from their demographic, socio-economic and psychological characteristics. The research’s originality lies in the uncharted impact of those factors on the citizens’ knowledge about natural disasters in Serbia. The results can be used for the design of strategies to improve citizens’ knowledge about the natural disasters caused by flooding.

Conclusions

Regarding disaster risk reduction, schools should become increasingly important institutions in creating and improving the safety culture in children and youth. This is not only because they provide essential information and knowledge about disasters in the local community where students live, but also because the importance of school education on disasters has risen sharply in the last decades, especially bearing in mind that children are the most vulnerable people in society. In this paper, our findings highlighted that the highest number of respondents were educated about natural disasters at school, followed by in the family, and lastly at work. School disaster education is very important, and children who have been taught about the phenomenon of disasters and how to react to those situations have proved to be able to respond promptly and appropriately. Also, continuous community involvement is the most important factor for school disaster education. Johnston and colleagues found that traditional educational programs on natural disasters focused on passive information provide a very low level of awareness and motivation for citizens to raise their level of preparedness for response. In the moments before the arrival of a flood, the highest number of respondents would fill sandbags, and the smallest number would move their vehicles. Similar findings have been observed in Scotland. Regarding the actions aimed at preparing for a flood, they have evidenced that filling sandbags and locking doors were the most undertaken measures, underlining the place attachment and the unwillingness to evacuate or protect property. Elderly people and the disabled are especially vulnerable to natural disasters and have specific needs in emergency situations. Our findings highlighted that less than half of respondents know where elderly, disabled, and infants live, while half of them know what assistance is required by these categories of people. The awareness of the possibility of being exposed to flood threats plays an important role in disaster risk reduction. The exposure to a threat plays an important role. In general, our respondents showed low personal flood-risk awareness and a low level of knowledge about what to do in the period before the arrival of a flood wave. On the other hand, our findings highlighted that more than half of the respondents know where and how to handle the water valve and the main electric switch. However, less than half know where and how to handle the gas valve. Community flood education is becoming an increasingly important flood mitigation and disaster management mechanism. Citizens who are informed in time about an upcoming natural disaster through the warning and notification systems will not feel such fear because they know everything will go according to the pre-established procedures. Besides fear, knowledge, previous hazard experience, and feeling of threat of those at risk are important factors in the recognition of different risks. We found that men, engaged citizens, respondents who have a fear of floods, higher income people, and the unemployed in a higher percentage than women, singles or divorcées, respondents who don’t have a fear of floods, low-income people, and the employed claim that they know what a natural disaster is. To improve knowledge, it is necessary to raise awareness through campaigns, educational programs, and strategies for all citizens, especially women, citizens aged 28 to 38 years, those who have completed doctoral studies, singles, those who have fear, who have incomes up to RSD 50,000, and who have no previous experience.

How to cite

Reference – Cvetković, V., Tarolli, P., Roder, G., Ivanov, A., Ronan, K., Ocam, A., & Kutub, R. (2017). Citizens education about floods: a Serbian case study. VII International scientific conference Archibald Reiss days, Academy of Criminalistic and Police Studies, Belgrade.