Understanding risk perception and enigma of peoples' memory through social-hydrology

Abstract

The project addresses issues central to the community, risk perception, climate change, water security and adaptive behaviour as its priority, under a British-Brazilian research partnership. The aim of the project is to use innovative research strategy to understand patterns of public perception of climate change risk, focused on hydrology driven disaster risks, which identifies with their socio-environmental vulnerability and adaptation strategies. Using socio-hydrology concepts that developed from the dynamic interaction and feedbacks between natural hydrological processes and social processes the project investigates how local communities in Brazil are embedded and respond to the changing interdependent challenges surrounding water security. A set of questions will be interrogated through synergistic developing notion of socio-hydrology which will seek to envision the perception of communities through their memories and adaptive practices. The specific objectives of this project are to:1.Develop a robust interdisciplinary methodology for integrating the physical science of changing climate and its interaction with community risk perception through stakeholder engagement and scenario generation under changing conditions of poorer communities2.Develop participatory methodology (i.e. SHOWS, Mendiondo et al, 2017) that interweaves water experts and lay knowledge through citizen science as a means of responding gap quantification between impact thresholds, adaptation and mitigation options in vulnerable prone areas3.Provide interdisciplinary analysis of multi stakeholder perception of factors triggering thresholds, tipping points for water security (i.e. stress), awareness and actions.4.Promote the expert and lay knowledge exchange on science and perception of water security and capitalise on the insights gained in the development of communication protocol of the project, thereby linked to running projects in UK and Brazil.5.Using SHOWS, to develop a social media platform for accessible engaged web based utility for policy influence and decision making strategy for the future. This will include project resources to ensure longer term sustainability. (AU)