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Hello. I’m Nnenia Campbell,
and I’m deputy director at the

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William Averette Anderson Fund,
commonly referenced as the

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Bill Anderson Fund, which is
a nonprofit organization

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whose mission it to expand the number
of historically under-represented

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professionals in the field of hazard
and disaster research and practice.

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I’m also a research associate with
the Natural Hazards Center at the

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University of Colorado-Boulder.
Today I’ll be talking about applying

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an equity lens to the process of
risk communication, drawing on

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two projects I had the honor of
leading at the Natural Hazards Center.

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Before proceeding, I want to
acknowledge the work on risk

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communication that I’ll be referencing
today was made possible with funding

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support from the U.S. Geological
Survey as well as a supplemental award

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from the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers
via the National Science Foundation.

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My discussion today draws
from two separate projects.

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The first was the development of
risk communication guidance,

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and the second project applies
this overarching framework to

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guide the development of earthquake
information products related to

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the rollout of the USGS-led
HayWired earthquake scenario.

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I’m going to start by summarizing
how our risk communication guidance

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project was developed and
providing a quick overview

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of some of the core principles
that it identified.

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The risk communication guidance
that I’ll be discussing today was

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developed as part of a project that
was initiated in late 2019

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as a collaboration between
the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers

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Institute for Water Resources
at the Natural Hazards Center.

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As part of that effort,
our team summarized the state

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of knowledge about risk
communication with a particular

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focus on the needs of socially
vulnerable populations.

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This was intended to generate guidance
for practitioners and technical experts

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about how to apply best practices
for communicating about disaster risk

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while being aware of and responsive
to the challenges faced by

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socially vulnerable
communities.

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I’d like to take a moment to define
the concept of social vulnerability

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because it’s central to this
discourse about equity and

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inclusion as well as to the
products that I’ll be discussing.

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What we’re referring to when we
use this phrase is a set of circumstances

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that is socially produced.
In other words, social vulnerability

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is not an innate characteristic of
individuals or communities, but rather

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it’s a potential for harm that is born
out of social processes and systems.

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Socially vulnerable populations are
those that face disproportionate disaster

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risk due to a variety of social,
economic, and historical factors.

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Therefore, a particular set of
characteristics may be associated

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with greater social vulnerability in
one environment, while that same

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set of characteristics does not
necessarily have these associations

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in another setting with greater
social protections and institutions

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designed to address the
needs of different groups.

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Recognizing that vulnerability is
a dynamic condition that is linked

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to social processes is important because
failure to understand that fact often

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leads technical experts to develop
solutions that are incompatible with

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what the community actually needs
and ineffective in addressing

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the underlying issues with
which they’re grappling.

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With that understanding, I’m going to
start breaking down how to build this

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lens on social vulnerability into
the risk communication process.

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There are many important insights in the
research literature that drill down into

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different aspects of risk communication,
but the materials that our team at the

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Natural Hazards Center developed
focus on comprehensive core principles

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that boil much of it down
into three primary ideas,

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which I’ll discuss individually
in a moment.

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These general principles apply across
different hazards and populations.

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So, as we bring in the social
vulnerability dimension,

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it’s not a matter of creating
different rules, but of understanding

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how to apply those rules effectively
and to conduct the communication

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process equitably. The principles
highlight different kinds of

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considerations that need to be
taken throughout the risk

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communication process,
and they are mutually informing.

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So all three of these principles that
you see here build on one another

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and they’re interdependent.
Now that I’ve given a broad overview

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of the key concepts and principles,
I’ll dig a little deeper and spend

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some time walking through each
of the three core principles.

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The first is communicate through
familiar and trusted messengers.

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There are a few main concepts
underlying this principle.

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The first is that careful planning
and relationship building are critical

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for risk communicators,
as trust and credibility

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are the foundation for good
communication relationships.

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Additionally, working with credible,
well-connected partners in target

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communities helps to ensure that
messages are appropriately

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constructed and disseminated.
These gatekeepers, or cultural brokers,

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hold valuable expertise about their
communities and may be comparatively

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well-received by the target audience.
Building partnerships with

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organizations or individuals that
are trusted by your target population

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can strengthen your team’s risk
communication efforts because those

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partners can assist with delivering
or vouching for your message.

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While this is always true of effective
risk communication, the need to identify

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those trusted messengers is particularly
important when reaching out to

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marginalized communities that
may have experienced conflict,

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and even harm, at the hands of
outside authorities in the past.

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Moving on to Principle II, it is essential
to provide clear, actionable information.

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Because message recipients can’t act
on information about the risks that they

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face if they can’t
access that information,

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don’t understand it, or lack the
resources necessary to respond to it.

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When developing a risk communication
plan and designing risk messages,

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factors such as accessibility,
barriers to action, and competing

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priorities need to be considered
if the process is to be equitable.

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For example, overly complicated
messages can fail to adequately signal

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the risks people face or the
steps necessary to reduce it.

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Issues such as language barriers,
cognitive limitations, competition

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for attention – these can all
hinder information uptake.

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So it’s vital to develop messaging that is
clear, consistent, and comprehensible.

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But it’s important to move beyond
simply sharing information if

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the ultimate goal is to
prompt some kind of response.

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Pairing details about risk with
actionable information empowers

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message recipients to take
steps to protect themselves.

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It’s essential to establish
the intent of the communication

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and its desired effect.
Communicators must also understand

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the constraints that the audience faces
so that the recommended actions are

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reasonable and possible in light
of the recipients’ circumstances.

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The third and final principle
is tailor messages and information

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pathways for target audiences.
This principle encourages us

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to recognize the diversity that
exists within any given community.

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Tailoring your message is important
because people don’t all communicate

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in the same ways, follow the
same information sources,

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or have the same information needs.
What you know about the

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characteristics of your
intended audience needs to

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feed into how you frame and
deliver your communications.

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Although the message should remain
consistent across pathways to avoid

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confusion, leveraging diverse
forms of media ensures that risk

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communicators can cast a wide
enough net to reach community

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members with different abilities
and information pathways.

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Community partners can support
message tailoring by applying

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population-specific expertise
about how messages should

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be framed or what channel
people are most likely to reach.

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An opportunity to put the core
principles of risk communication

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into practice presented itself
with the Diversifying Haywired

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Communications project, which
was initiated in the summer of 2021.

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As many of you are likely familiar,
the USGS HayWired scenario depicts

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a scientifically realistic
magnitude 7.0 earthquake sequence

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and its cascading impacts
on the Hayward Fault.

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The findings of the third volume
of the Scientific Investigations report

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for the HayWired scenario highlight
the societal consequences of damages

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and disruptions expected to result from
the events described in the scenario,

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including impacts to
socially vulnerable populations.

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The Diversifying HayWired
Communication project was developed

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to help the HayWired team better
connect with marginalized communities

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in the Bay Area that are likely to
face disproportionate impacts

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from a large earthquake.
The project team included contributors

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to the HayWired scenario from
the USGS and Stanford University

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as well as fellows with the
Bill Anderson Fund and

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support from the
Natural Hazards Center.

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Specifically, the project was designed
to address three main objectives that

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inquired about what stakeholder groups
in the Bay Area could be effectively

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engaged to help with the HayWired
team’s goal of better connecting with

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under-represented communities and
diverse cultural and ethic groups;

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what priorities, interests, and concerns
of these groups were and how those

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issues could be best linked to
the concepts addressed in the HayWired

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scenario; and what the communication
needs of the target audiences are

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as well as what kinds of information
products would best resonate with them.

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The group of Bill Anderson Fund
fellows who carried out the key project

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activities included six doctoral students
from three universities, all with different

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disciplinary backgrounds and
areas of expertise, who have

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all demonstrated a commitment
to addressing the needs of

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marginalized communities
facing hazards and disasters.

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The project design sought to apply
the core principles through a process

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that started with working with
our HayWired-affiliated partners

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to clarify goals and identify
priority stakeholder groups.

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In other words, defining
the target audience.

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The fellows then developed
an environmental scan database

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that identified nearly 50 organizations
that represented priority sectors for the

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HayWired team and that reflected the
fellows’ own interests and expertise.

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These included energy justice
environmental – energy justice

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organizations, grassroots community
groups, financial security programs

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for low-income communities,
mutual aid networks, cultural and

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historical associations, and public
and mental health organizations.

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They used publicly available
information to populate the database

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and documenting organizational
missions, populations served,

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points of contact, communication
channels used, and how the

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organization’s activities might
link to the HayWired scenario.

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These organizations were identified
as potential trusted messengers that

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already had established communication
pathways and trust with the target

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audiences. And, in addition to
collecting publicly available data,

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three of the fellows were able to
conduct interviews with a representative

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of an organization in their category
of interest to better understand their

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organization’s activities and the
needs of the clients or constituents.

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As a next step, the fellows synthesized
this qualitative data into organizational

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design personas, which summarized
key details needed to inform their

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communication methods.
They then used these personas to

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guide their development of prototypes
of six information products that

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were tailored to the specific types
of organizations and audiences

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that they served. The products were
intended to provide clear, concise

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information about steps that could be
taken to prepare for a large earthquake.

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And these products expanded the
approaches that the HayWired team

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has previously taken toward
communicating about the scenario

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by utilizing innovative information
pathways and formats.

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A final report about this project is
currently under development and

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will be made publicly available
via the Natural Hazards Center’s

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website in the coming months.
In the interest of time, I won’t go into

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specific detail about the process,
but I will share a few high-level

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details about the
project’s outputs.

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The products that the fellows prototyped
covered a range of target groups

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and organizational types
and took on different formats.

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So briefly, as depicted here,
these designs included an informational

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video that was geared toward public
and mental health organizations,

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a phone and web application for
community-based organizations,

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and a set of instructions on how to
build a flywheel, or a basic alternative

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energy source that can be built using
common inexpensive household objects

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and used to charge a cell phone
during a power outage.

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And this product was tailored for use
by energy justice organizations.

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Another three products included
a mascot called Geo the Bear, which

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could be used by chambers of commerce
as a spokesperson for the HayWired

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coalition and outreach campaigns
targeting small minority businesses.

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Geo would carry a backpack containing
materials and resources and could

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integrate across all of
the other fellows’ products.

00:13:06.960 --> 00:13:10.160
Another prototype showcased
how this concept could be used

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by integrating Geo the Bear
into a serious game with

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a choose-your-disaster theme to be
used by financial security programs.

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The last product, featured on the right,
was an infographic designed for

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residents mutual aid groups,
which have proliferated during

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the COVID-19 pandemic,
to help them prepare for scaling up

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their efforts and utilizing their
unique skills and approach

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in response to
a large earthquake.

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These products, and the process
through which they were developed,

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will be discussed
in greater detail in July

00:13:40.960 --> 00:13:45.205
at the Natural Hazard Center’s
annual workshop.

00:13:47.200 --> 00:13:50.960
In conclusion, the Diversifying
HayWired Communication project

00:13:50.960 --> 00:13:54.320
showcased, through an abbreviated
process, how the core principles of

00:13:54.320 --> 00:13:57.360
risk communication can be utilized
in a real-world science and

00:13:57.360 --> 00:14:01.120
risk communication effort.
The team’s experience in developing,

00:14:01.120 --> 00:14:04.880
adapting, and implementing this project
also generated some important insights

00:14:04.880 --> 00:14:09.760
into the investments needed for effective
risk communication, particularly with

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regard to the need to dedicate sufficient
time to engage in sustained outreach and

00:14:14.400 --> 00:14:19.440
relationship building and about the need
for flexibility and creativity in finding

00:14:19.440 --> 00:14:23.416
ways to gather the necessary
data while minimizing the burden

00:14:23.440 --> 00:14:27.520
on communication partners.
Finally, this opportunity to plug into

00:14:27.520 --> 00:14:31.600
the larger HayWired scenario rollout
effort highlighted how diverse teams

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with awareness of and sensitivity
to a broad range of issues and

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populations can help with developing
innovative approaches to risk

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communication and with contributing
to the kinds of inclusive coalitions

00:14:42.560 --> 00:14:47.281
necessary to address inequitable
distributions of risk.

00:14:47.680 --> 00:14:51.680
With that, I’ll conclude my discussion.
Thank you so much for your interest

00:14:51.680 --> 00:14:54.000
in these issues and for your
commitment to inclusion and

00:14:54.000 --> 00:14:56.320
equity in disaster
risk communication.

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I look forward to discussing any
questions during the live chat.