The importance of education in reducing vulnerability to natural disasters and future climate change

Empirical data and case studies from new studies conducted in the context of the European Research Council (ERC) Advanced Grant “Forecasting Societies’ Adaptive Capacity to Climate Change” show from that better education can help people survive and recover after natural disasters such as floods, landslides, storms, and fires. 

Messiah College

Messiah College

The new findings from researchers in IIASA’s Population and Risk, Policy, and Vulnerability programs provide new insight into strategies to address disaster preparation as well as climate change adaptation, since certain natural disasters are expected to increase as climate change becomes more pronounced.

One study, by IIASA researchers Erich Striessnig, Anthony Patt, and Wolfgang Lutz, found that education is a key factor in determining how people will survive the natural extreme events such as storms, droughts, floods, and landslides that are expected to happen more frequently in a warming climate. The study found that education is the strongest socioeconomic indicator reducing vulnerability to extreme natural events. Education turns out to be more significant than income, which economists often assume to be the key factor. In addition, the study showed that education of young women between the ages of 20 and 39 was the most important influence on vulnerability. The study used a wealth of data including IIASA population projections that measure education levels for 130 countries by age and sex.

While previous work had found connections between education and disaster vulnerability, it was not clear whether education directly influenced preparedness, or whether it was tied to other factors like income that might also influence people’s capability to respond to and prepare for disasters. The new study split out education from a broader measure called the Human Development Index (HDI), which also includes health and income data. Compared to health and income, education had the strongest effect on disaster vulnerability.

Another study, by POP researcher Samir KC, looked at floods and landslides in Nepal and found that the effect of education persists when one looks at one specific country. KC examined education levels and disaster response in Nepal, his native country, using village-level disaster data and census data from the Nepalese government. In all models, for different regions of Nepal, the study found that education always had a positive effect in reducing vulnerability.

The model data could not establish a causal link between education and disaster vulnerability, but the connection was strong enough that KC decided to visit Nepal to follow up with a series of interviews. Those interviews provided a number of potential reasons for the effect. Education helps in terms of preparing yourself, making you less vulnerable by anticipating the risks that you face. Interviewees also noted that education about specific risks through schools or the community had helped them prepare for disasters. Having more educated people in a community could also contribute to better preparedness and sharing of information.

These two papers have been published in a special issue of the journal “Ecology and Society” entitled “Education and Differential Vulnerability to Natural Disasters,” edited by IIASA Population Program researcher William Butz and Risk, Policy, and Vulnerability Program researcher Jan Sendzimir. Papers are available online free-of-charge.


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Last edited: 03 October 2013

CONTACT DETAILS

Wolfgang Lutz

Interim Deputy Director General for Science Directorate - DDG for Science Department

Principal Research Scholar and Senior Program Advisor Population and Just Societies Program

Principal Research Scholar and Senior Program Advisor Social Cohesion, Health, and Wellbeing Research Group - Population and Just Societies Program

International Institute for Applied Systems Analysis (IIASA)
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