Children as agents of change: The use of a school-based participatory tool to enhance flood risk reduction and adaptation plans at the household level — YRD
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Children as agents of change: The use of a school-based participatory tool to enhance flood risk reduction and adaptation plans at the household level (2756)

Avianto Amri 1 2 , Katharine Haynes 1 2 , Deanne K. Bird 1 2 , Kevin R. Ronan 1 3
  1. Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC, East Melbourne, Victoria, Australia
  2. Risk Frontiers, Macquarie University, North Ryde, New South Wales, Australia
  3. School of Human, Health, and Social Sciences, Central Queensland University, North Rockhampton, Queensland, Australia

Climate change education is included in the school curricula in many parts of the world. However, recent studies in disaster prevention education have indicated that although children have increased awareness and knowledge, these programs rarely influence good practices at home. Most school-based programs assume that information will be exchanged and translated to the wider family. However, without building children’s capacity as agents of change and supporting them in actions that involve their parents this is unlikely to occur. Therefore, this novel research has developed and tested a participatory tool, designed by students and their parents. The methodology enables children to actively engage with their parents in discussions related to household risk reduction and adaptation plans. This includes identifying measures to anticipate climate change and extreme weather, such as floods. The overall aim is to have a tool, that can be easily replicated in all schools in relation to all hazards, that enhances the role of children as agents of change in their homes. Three schools in Jakarta, Indonesia, a rapidly growing flood prone urban center were selected for the development and testing of the tool. The children were aged between 9 and 12. A mixed method approach was utilised to investigate the effectiveness of the tool through a combination of questionnaires, focus groups, and family interviews for students, parents, and teachers, at pre- and post-tool roll out.