Teaching activities in risk and vulenrabilility communication for citizen preparation

Abstract

Introduction: This study aims to enhance risk and vulnerability communication through teaching activities as a means of citizen preparation in countries such as Cuba, taking the communities of O'Bourke and Pastorita in the city of Cienfuegos as a reference. Materials and methods: The methodology applied with a qualitative approach, with the unity of the analytical-synthetic and inductive-deductive methods both to determine the theoretical and methodological foundations on the participation of social actors and teachers from the University of Cienfuegos. The interviews were carried out with residents of the communities of O'Bourke and Pastorita to determine the degree of understanding of risk and vulnerability communication. Documentary analysis, both methods at the empirical level, made it possible to collect testimonies and bibliographic data. Results: The management in risk and vulnerability communication is described as a contribution to citizen preparation through teaching activities that allow organizing messages based on their characteristics; Languages, channels, and spaces, through rational, coherent, and creative use in accordance with the context, allow for preparation in disaster situations. Discussion: In the analysis of risk and vulnerability communication in the face of natural disaster risks, the content is strengthened in practice in a dialectical unity formed by actions that allow for preparedness in communities at risk and vulnerability, such as Pastorita and O'Bourke, both located in the provincial capital of Cienfuegos. Conclusions: In the teaching activities developed, several forms of communication were evident from a participatory and effective perspective. These allow citizens to understand the importance of communication for prevention, mitigation, and emergency response in disaster situations, as well as the importance of these in the management of organizations. This promoted new ways of carrying out community work and citizen preparedness through the teaching process itself.