5.4.23 Cascadia CoPes Hub / RCN Monthly Seminar Series

Speaker: Jamie Vickery

Title: Towards More Inclusive Risk Communication and Emergency Planning: Communicating Risk to Those Living Unhoused

Abstract: Effectively communicating risk, particularly during complex and rapidly evolving extreme events, is critical to protecting the lives and livelihoods of individuals and communities as we continue to grapple with and adapt to a changing climate. As such, risk communication planning must be representative and inclusive of the needs and capacities of the diverse communities that emergency managers serve. While a necessary standard, inclusive risk communication planning comes with challenges and considerations that require careful and intentional engagement with communities. To demonstrate, this presentation centers around the experiences and recommendations of individuals living unhoused in the context of extreme weather: how interviewees reported accessing risk information, their challenges to receiving or acting upon risk information and their recommendations for more inclusive risk communication planning. These insights are coupled with interview data from emergency management and planning professionals and representatives from homeless-serving organizations to capture barriers and opportunities for including the needs and capacities of those living unhoused into emergency and risk communication planning.