Exploring Changes in Hydrogeological Risk Awareness and Preparedness over Time: A Case Study in North-eastern Italy

Hydrogeological hazards are increasingly causing damage worldwide due to climatic and socio economic changes, making it crucial to build resilient communities to reduce potential losses. To this end, one of the first steps is to understand how people perceive potential threats around them. This study aims at exploring how risk awareness of and preparedness to face hydrological hazards changes over time. A cohort study was carried out in two villages in the North-eastern Italian Alps, Romagnano and Vermiglio, affected by debris flows in 2000 and 2002. Surveys were conducted in 2005 and 2018, and results compared. The survey data show that both awareness and preparedness decreased over time. We attribute this change to the fact that no event occurred in a long time and to a lack of proper risk communication strategies. Besides contributing to sociohydrological modelling by providing empirical data on human behaviour dynamics, the outcomes of this study are a valuable input for effective risk communication strategies.