Disaster Preparedness and Risk Reduction
Published August 30, 2024 | Version v1
Working paper Open

Enhancing People-Centred Early Warning Systems (PCEWS) in Traditional Coastal Communities of Brazil: An Intersectional Approach to Inclusive Risk Communication

Authors/Creators

  • 1. ROR icon University College Cork
  • 2. ROR icon Universidade de São Paulo
  • 3. Cemaden - Brazilian Centre for Monitoring and Warnings of Natural Disasters
  • 4. ROR icon Centro Nacional de Monitoramento e Alertas de Desastres Naturais
  • 5. ROR icon National University of Ireland, Maynooth
  • 6. Universidade de São Paulo - Escola de Artes, Ciências e Humanidades
  • 7. Traditional quilombola community, President of the Association of Residents of the Quilombo do Campinho da Independência
  • 8. Member of the Association of Residents of the Quilombo do Campinho da Independência, Paraty, Brazil
  • 9. Traditional artisanal fishing community, Association of Friends of the Caiçara Museum and Forum of Traditional Communities of Angra dos Reis, Paraty, and Ubatuba, with the Observatory of Sustainable and Healthy Territories (FCT-OTSS in Portuguese) in Bocaina, Ubatuba, Brazil
  • 10. Traditional artisanal fishing community, founder of the 'Fandango Caiçara' cultural group, Association of Friends of the Caiçara Museum and Forum of Traditional Communities of Angra dos Reis, Paraty, and Ubatuba, with the Observatory of Sustainable and Healthy Territories (FCT-OTSS) in Bocaina, Ubatuba, Brazil
  • 11. Traditional artisanal fishing community, member of Forum of Traditional Communities of Angra dos Reis, Paraty, and Ubatuba
  • 12. Secretary of Policies for Quilombolas, African Diasporic Peoples and Traditional Communities, and Romani People, Brazilian Ministry of Racial Equality, Brasília, Federal District, Brazil
  • 13. Coordination of the Forum of Traditional Communities (FCT) of Angra dos Reis, Paraty and Ubatuba, and general coordinator of the Observatory of Sustainable and Healthy Territories of Bocaina (OTSS)
  • 14. ROR icon Helmholtz Centre for Environmental Research
  • 15. ROR icon Universidade Federal de São Carlos

Description

Traditional and Local Communities (TLC) living in coastal southeastern Brazil are increasingly impacted by extreme climate and weather events. However, these communities are seldom involved in early Disaster Risk Management. Incorporating their knowledge is crucial to reduce conflicts and achieve sustainable solutions. Here we investigated the existing barriers to the dissemination and communication of early warning messages at the local level according to traditional communities. To this end, we adopted a transdisciplinary and mixed-methods approach, combining demographic data and georeferenced disaster information with focus groups, workshops and interview data. Our research focused on two TLCs in the Southeast coastal zone of Brazil, Ubatumirim & Campinho, which are frequently impacted by hydrometeorological hazards. We identified distinct patterns in the types and frequencies of disasters reported, unravelling the unequal distribution of disaster impacts in each municipality. From these workshops, we identified three key barriers to the dissemination and communication of warnings. First, information about potentially hazardous events is often delayed, with updates reaching the public after the event. Second, the communication networks depend on technologies that often fail during emergencies, making them unreliable. Third, there is no clear distinction between official warnings and misinformation, causing confusion and mistrust. To advance the effectiveness of warnings, future interventions should focus on (1) building redundancy in communication channels for priority groups, (2) designing, testing and evaluating evacuation protocols by involving these groups and (3) formulating customised response plans and emergency kits tailored to these communities.

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Working paper - 06012025.pdf

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Additional details

Identifiers

URL
https://preparecenter.org/resource/pcews-inclusive-risk-communication-brazil/

Funding

International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies
Research Grants on Inclusive Early Warning Early Action