All singing from the same song sheet: DRR through engagement and the visual and performing arts

When faced with a need to make decisions and take about to prepare for natural hazard events characterized by considerable complexity and uncertainty, people’s risk beliefs and the actions they decide to take are influenced by several social interpretive processes. Analyses of preparedness activities has highlighted how information alone generally fails to motivate action; for it to be effective, it must be delivered into social contexts that can render the information meaningful and actionable. This paper explores several approaches to how the social interpretation component of this process might be facilitated. The paper opens with a discussion of the community engagement theory and the lessons it suggests for the development of community-based disaster reduction (CBDRR) strategies. The paper explores the development of a community engagement theory and its implications for strategy implementation. It then discusses how the performing and visual arts can be mobilized to facilitate CBDRR outcomes and discusses some examples of work being undertaken in
this area. The paper closes with an overview of the work being implemented to further understanding of the use of the arts for CBDRR.