Mountain risk management: integrated people centred early warning system (IEWS) as a risk reduction strategy, Northern Italy

A methodology to integrate early warning systems and emergency plans has been elaborated in the framework of the European project Mountain Risks. This methodology, focused on prevention as a key element for disaster risk reduction, was partially applied in the Mountain Consortium of Municipalities Valtellina di Tirano, northern Italy, an area recurrently affected by several mountain hazards. Results indicate that in the study zone, several valuable risk reduction efforts have been made in the past, including the development of a comprehensive emergency plan. However the tendency is still to direct efforts towards emergency response rather than prevention. Taking into account the current state of disaster management and risk reduction initiatives in the study area, it was decided that the methodology that best fits the present conditions would be a non structural approach, such as an Integrated People Centred Early Warning System (IEWS). The aim of the IEWS is not only to increase the level of awareness and preparedness of the community and decrease its vulnerability, but also to strengthen institutional collaboration, in particular at the local level, in order to assure sustainability of the efforts in the long term. All the EWS (Early Warning System) components are present in the study area, but they display several shortcomings, are individually developed, have little structure and are poorly linked. This lack of integration of the components may render these EWS efforts ineffective. To alleviate this, several actions are proposed to integrate the different risk management strategies into an IEWS (Integrated community based Early Warning System) with a interdisciplinary approach. In addition, in order to create a comprehensive disaster management plan it is necessary to combine those IEWS strategies with the emergency plan already existing in the study area. This thesis presents some results derived from the process of designing and initially implementing an IEWS. However, more work is necessary to complete the implementation of a sustainable IEWS at Valtellina di Tirano. The design of the IEWS involved several phases, including hazard and risk assessment, analysis of the legal framework and also the application of an extensive social survey to evaluate the levels of perceived risk, awareness, preparedness and information needs of the community. The IEWS also includes the development of educational activities to increase preparedness. These activities were designed by an multidisciplinary group composed of scientists, local leaders and local authorities based on the results of the survey. The activities include an education and communication campaign addressed to the local community and practitioner stakeholders. Results of the survey show that, despite having good knowledge of previous flooding and mass movements, the population of the study area have low levels of perceived risks and preparedness. However, the population also is interested in being informed about natural hazards, mitigation activities, risk management and emergency procedures. People express willingness to participate in communication campaigns to learn how to be better prepared to react in case of a future event. This include learning about appropriate mitigation activities they can perform themselves to be less vulnerable. The presented thesis also includes a conceptual contribution which describes some of the difficulties and challenges of developing integrated risk reduction strategies with a multidisciplinary approach, together with some recommendations to overcome them and to improve the current risk management situation of the study area.