The importance of schools in disaster risk reduction

The purpose of this paper is to share the implemented strategy, activities and the process of cooperation between the educational community in the municipality of Amadora (Portugal), the Civil Protection Local Authority and the local campaign “Resilient Amadora" on raising awareness about disaster reduction in Portuguese schools.

The authors recommend the following for improving risk communication (p. 21):

• promoting information sessions on rules of conduct in emergency situations for teaching staff and technical and operational assistants in the schools;
• giving preference to curricular contents related to the hazards, risks and vulnerabilities that affect populations;
• encouraging greater transmission of prevention measures and appropriate behaviours in emergencies upsetting family members and friends;
• encouraging instructional sessions on basic techniques for handling first response resources (e.g., fire extinguishers).

This document is an input paper of the 2015 Global Assessment Report on Disaster Risk Reduction.