Abstract
French law on major risk preventive information for population setup the objective to make the citizen able to act for his own safety and to participate through his behaviour to the civil security. To reach this objective, the policymakers developed 4 regulatory tools that have to be implemented by the local authorities. These 4 tools do not meet the success factors of risk communication measures aiming at inducing behavioural adaptation to face risks. This, added to the fact that people who die in the last floods events in France lost their lives due to either a lack of knowledge of the risk or to a risk taking behaviour, led us to question the impact of the preventive information regulatory tools. For the needs of our study we developed a risk perception and behaviour scale, helping us to classify the people of our sample. Our evaluation in Orleans shows that very few people know the regulatory tools and that their impact is quite low, far from the policymakers’ expectations. This highlight the real necessity to innovate in the field of flood risk communication.
Highlights
With 17 million of persons living in the flood prone zones (1/4 of the total population) and 1/3 of the jobs located in the same areas [1], France is highly exposed to flood risk
The national barometer on water resources and wetlands preservation [2] shows that the interviewees place flood management in the last position of the list of the most important stakes regarding water related issues
The interpretation can be done in 2 ways having different consequences for preventive information and the territory manager
Summary
These objectives are summarised in the DICRIM elaboration guidelines [8]: “Information of the citizen on natural and technological major risks is a right written in the law since 1987. Preventive information contributes to build a collective memory, to ensure solidarity, to strengthen the social tie and to maintain the compensation mechanisms.”. This list has to be completed with the objective to allay the fears. The preventive information is not an obligation to inform but a right of the citizen to access to the information, which suggests an active role of the population to get the information on the risk it is exposed to. He will participate actively to the civil security
Sign-in/Register to view highlights & summary Sign-in/Register to access full text options 
Free) 
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have
Schedule a call
