The report summarizes the findings of an 18-month study, commissioned by the Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation, of earthquake safety programs, the needs of disaster risk reduction (DRR) practitioners, and barriers to risk reduction in 11 cities around the world. Conducted by GeoHazards International and the Center for Disaster and Risk Analysis at Colorado State University, the study sought to better understand the risk information tools and resource needs of DRR practitioners, including government officials, school and hospital administrators, and others working at the community level to make their cities and organizations safer from earthquakes.
The report provides information about communication channels and technical resources used by practitioners and organizational strategies for disseminating risk information to others. In addition there is a summary of the key earthquake safety programs and activities in place in the 11 cities visited, as well as information about the main factors that led to the creation of these programs.
The report includes quantitative and qualitative analyses of the resources that practitioners said that they needed to understand, communicate, and mitigate earthquake risk. The data is presented both in terms of city-specific and sector-specific (e.g., practitioners working in education, health care, government, nonprofit, or business) analyses. The report also includes a discussion of the various barriers practitioners face in carrying out their work.
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