That knowledge forms an important element of disaster risk reduction is undisputed. Understanding risk and knowing how to better prepare for and mitigate disasters is critical to protecting lives and livelihoods. But does knowledge translate into practice at the community level? Through a series of post-disaster programs in West Sumatra, Indonesia, the Australia-Indonesia Facility for Disaster Reduction (AIFDR) set out to explore this question. Following the implementation of a unique engineering survey directly after the 2009 West Sumatra earthquake, AIFDR supported an innovative public awareness campaign to encourage affected communities to build back better. The campaign engaged Indonesian celebrities and delivered multi-media messages through entertaining and informative formats. A comprehensive evaluation of the Build Back Better campaign found that knowledge had importantly reduced community resistance to change. Despite this, house owners were not moved to action and a significantly low number of people actually used their new knowledge to rebuild homes using earthquake safe construction techniques. Based on the learning that knowledge was not enough, AIFDR designed and implemented a research program to explore the motivations for behaviour change. The findings of this research raise important considerations for governments, donors and program implementers seeking improved DRR outcomes throughout the disaster cycle.
This product is a chapter for a wider work titled UNDERSTANDING RISK IN AN EVOLVING WORLD - Emerging Best Practices in Natural Disaster Risk assessment created by the Global Faciity for Disaster Reduction and Recovery for the World Bank.
