6th International Disaster and Risk Conference IDRC 2016 Integrative Risk Management - Towards Resilient Cities. 28 August - 01 September 2016 in Davos, Switzerland

1. Barriers, disability and children
• People with disabilities are disproportionally affected by
disasters as a result of accessibility barriers,
• The barriers associated with specific disabilities are rarely
addressed and persons with disabilities are falsely
treated as a homogeneous group,
• Children with disabilities as well as children without
disabilities are poorly considered in disaster risk
reduction policies and programmes,
• Children can be educated to act independently, become
resilient and support their parents and their community.

2. The aim of the case study
A series of learning sessions and
workshops within the project CUIDAR
aiming to explore the perceptions of
hearing and hard of hearing children
regarding hazards and disasters

3. Methodology
• 25 students (3 hard of hearing and 22
hearing), a special and a general
education teacher, two researchers
Participants
• Workshops
• Participatory approach
• Hands-on activities
Method
• 4th grade in an inclusive primary
educational setting in Greece
• 8 months, November 2015-June 2016
Place and
Duration

4. Qualitative Analysis-Categories
Notions of hazards and disasters
Fear
Actions
Differentiated Instruction

5. Notions of
Hazards and
disasters
Broad
Earthquakes,
tsunamis
Terrorism,
war
Personal
Burglary,
the car
broke down
Results

6. If a disaster takes place…
 People could not go to their job, to the
supermarket,
 children could not play,
 they could not easily consider environmental or
human losses.

7. Fear
“We have to act”
“ It is important not to be alone at these moments”
“it is safer to deal with a hazard or a disaster with
a friend than by yourself”

8. In case of a flood…
“I would leave by an airplane”,
“I would climb up the roof of my house and wait”
“I would use pumps to remove the water”
“I would pack my things quickly and move to
another city”

9. I am hard of hearing
“if a fire breaks out during night, then what we are
supposed to do since we cannot hear the fire
alarm…you see we are not wearing our hearing
aids in bed…perhaps a vibrating pillow alarm may
be a solution”

10. Differentiated instruction
Differentiated
material
Visual educational
material (e.g.
concept maps,
pictures, video)
Language
according to
children’s needs
Differentiated
Process
Communication
principles (e.g.
talk once per time,
at a normal rate)
Visual techniques,
visual prompts,
small group
discussions

11. Added value for integrative risk
management and urban resilience
According to the Hyogo Framework for Action…
• Τhere is a small reference to persons with disabilities and
children, who are presented as vulnerable groups
together with the poor and the elderly (p.9)
• There is a need to promote the inclusion of disaster risk
reduction knowledge in relevant sections of school
curricula at all levels and the use of other formal and
informal channels to reach youth and children with
information” (p.9).

12. According to the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk
Reduction…
• children and youth are agents of change and should be given the
space and modalities to contribute to disaster risk reduction...
(p.23),
• the terms «inclusive», «accessible» «non-discriminatory
participation» «universal design» are used
(pp.10,12,13,19,23,24,25) and it is supported that persons with
disabilities need to be empowered and promote a universally
accessible response...(p.21),
• persons with disabilities as well as children and youth are
considered as a vulnerable and homogenous group together with
women, poor people, migrants, indigenous people (p.10, 13)
Added value for integrative risk
management and urban resilience

13. Conclusions
An inclusive frameworkfor children with and
without disabilities
CUIDAR does not consider children as a
vulnerable group. Children have the right to be
heard and empowered in order to play a
dynamic and highly participatory role in
frameworks, decisions and actions in relation to
Disaster Risk Reduction.
Interdisciplinary team (experts from
different areas) that would jointly develop
accessible and inclusive programmes by
addressing the specific barriers of persons
with different disabilities
A need for the development and the
evaluation of disaster education programs
(formal and non-formal) including children
with disabilities

14. Thank you for your attention!
mnikolar@uth.gr
http://www.lancaster.ac.uk/cuidar
The project (CUIDAR) has received funding from
the Europe Union’s Horizon 2020 research and
innovation programme under grant agreement
No 653753