Supporting Sustainable Development Through Early-Life DRR Learning Opportunities: UK School Insights

Abstract

The increasing frequency and intensity of extreme environmental phenomena mandate further actions to protect the most vulnerable groups, especially children. Traditionally, children have been excluded from conversations about disasters; however, this exclusion is reductive and perpetuates false ideas about children’s capacity to engage with safety information and materially manifest sustainable practices in their life. Such a reality is also impractical because early exposure through learning opportunities can yield engagement in sustainable development in adulthood. This research sought to improve understanding about children’s capacity to engage in DRR information. This study reviewed posters created by 7-year-old children at a primary school in the UK. These were produced as part of prior climate change workshops and included an illustration of a flood safety kit with items children would choose to have with them if there was an emergency (e.g., flooding event). Items included were counted and tallied to identify trends. The results demonstrated the capacity of children in this age group to select practically useful items for their safety in flooding emergencies. Based on findings, this study advocates for greater inclusion of children within disaster preparedness activities and the production of more tailored DRR learning opportunities to engage children within their school environment.

1. Introduction

The environmental crisis unfolding across the world is worsening, with an increasing population of stakeholders becoming effected by natural hazards like flooding [1]. Even if the goals of the Paris Agreement are met, action on the climate change front will still need to be taken, as there will be further climate change down the line, so the need for adaptation is integral. Projections show that based on the current level of action, there will be global warming in the range of 2 to 5 degrees Celsius by the end of the century [2]. In response to such a reality, organisations like the UN as well as governments and agencies have been involved in facilitating varying forms of disaster risk reduction (DRR) to manifest climate change adaptation as part of establishing sustainable development, so that in worst case scenarios lives can be protected [3]. However, in many countries, including the UK, conventional approaches to DRR have a limited inclusion of children due to the restricted view that they lack the capacity to understand DRR information or that such topics are not age appropriate for them [4]. Both views represent a failure in logical reasoning and avoid accepting the practical reality that absence of information serves to disempower individuals regardless of age, through limiting their capacity to build an understanding about optimal behaviour in emergency situations—such insight would increase the chances of individuals trying to find safety [5]. Additionally, the challenge of including DRR elements in the school curriculum, which is already crammed, has been discussed in the UK and beyond [6]. The aim of this study is to investigate the merits of including children in DRR discussions by reviewing posters to improve scientific understanding about children’s capacities to engage with DRR information and knowledge. Critically, the core rationale of this research is that there is a clear link between exposure to climate change and disasters as part of the education curriculum early on and positive engagement in the future (in adulthood) with the concepts of sustainability and adaptation [7]. As such, it becomes difficult to materially manifest sustainable development if the above concepts do not seem as integral and important by society, worsening long-term societal vulnerability. This is undesirable and serves to impede human progress and undermines efforts to reestablish mutualism between humanity and the natural world.

In line with the above, many studies with university students have found that engagement via educational extra-curricular activities with topics like sustainability and climate change supports knowledge development and overall awareness beyond the educational landscape, in terms of stimulating pro-environmental behaviours, by establishing clear pathways to action so that individuals ultimately know how they can engage in action [8]. Moreover, considering that the core tenant of fostering sustainable development is persistent and appropriate action, there is a need to enable such educational opportunities to be available at a younger age. Through earlier engagement, there are simply more opportunities to involve children in sustainable practices. In early interactions, it can be established what sustainable behaviours look like—essentially, children are supported in developing reference points that help to guide future interactions with the environment and sharpen their critical evaluation skills. In synthesis, such interactions help to develop precision in distinguishing the impacts of actions and identifying misinformation [9]. Such skills are especially relevant in the modern landscape where science is being challenged by the spread of misinformation.

Further to this, in the view of those working in sustainable development, children are seen as agents of change [3]. The impacts of current actions will be left for individuals who are currently children, so present generations bear them a moral obligation to take more substantive proactive steps to address climate change, but also to prepare children (the future generations) so that they have the appropriate knowledge apparatus to deal with those incoming climate realities. Moreover, in labelling children as agents of change, there is a recognition of their agency in shaping their own future and constructing actions based on their lived experiences as children. Detachment of children from DRR programmes means such initiatives are completely adult-led, which makes them ignorant of the needs of children—it is intellectually arrogant to assume that adults can represent children’s views in their totality [4]. Rather, the best representation of children’s views in DRR originates from children, not adults; so, on purely practical terms, it is a waste of resources to exclude children from discussions.

Beyond the above, there is substantial research expressing that where there is limited exposure to something like climate change, this can elicit a sense of fear of the unknown and anxiety, making it difficult to foster understanding later due to avoidance of such topics [10]. This is undesirable for DRR because it is well evidenced that fearful people who panic during emergency situations create a heightened level of risk [11]. So, if children are exposed early on to conversations about disasters, climate change, etc., it could be inferenced that such inclusion will reduce the likely fear of engagement in such conversations later in life and these conversations about such topics will be normalised—they will become norms as opposed to taboos [12]. This is especially important now considering that the success of sustainable development hinges on effectively countering misinformation. Such a reality outlines that the value of early exposure goes beyond establishing accurate information about the changing climate, in that it also supports critical thinking development by asking children to question ideas early on. And this is vital for high-level decision making in later life, especially in assessing evidence presented by political parties, companies, etc., or other decision makers [9]. Ultimately, it is children who will face the consequences of present actions, so it would be ethically responsible to include them in conversations that affect their future.

A growing body of research surrounding the topic of DRR in early education suggests that early exposure to DRR information is crucial for building long-term resilience in communities [13]. Through fostering a basic understanding of natural hazards, preparedness strategies, and personal safety, children can play a direct role in maintaining a collective state of resilience in their community by being able to critically evaluate the level of safety at a given time and use this to inform their decisions in response [14]. In enabling this, schools play a vital role in connecting DRR within the curriculum, especially via the use of immersion, storytelling, and interactive activities often within the subject of geography [6,15]. Through knowledge gained, children can take on tasks that would otherwise be unavailable to them, such as some home preparedness responsibilities, challenging misinformation, and reacting in ways that are appropriate (ultimately, with greater awareness fewer mistakes would be expected) [14]. Crucially, children cannot continue to be treated as passive victims of disasters [9], especially when they may have the capacity to engage directly in climate change adaptation. Focus should instead shift to understanding how best to approach communicating with children when creating DRR learning opportunities in the curriculum. Despite the above potential, children have been repeatedly excluded from DRR conversations [11]. This is evidenced by the fact that many DRR policies are aimed at adults (especially emergency responders), particularly in the UK, and this means child-centred approaches are denied sufficient attention (with many still questioning the ethics surrounding the inclusion of children) [16]. To reflect on how barriers to engagement can be overcome, this paper reviews posters produced by primary school children in the UK and offers direct insights into this pressing topic.

2. Literature Review

2.1. DRR & Children

There is an increasing presence of discussions surrounding the role of children in DRR, especially in debating their role as active participants rather than passive entities during emergencies. However, in terms of practical implementation of this in DRR practices or greater presence in policies, except in disaster-prone countries that face necessity for DRR, there is still an overall absence of this key stakeholder group [3]. Yet increasingly there is academic evidence that illustrates the valuable insights that children possess about their local area that have potential to benefit disaster preparedness practices and communication crafting processes that still lack diverse perspectives (failing to truly represent communities that are rarely homogenous) [1]. During the inception of the Sendai Framework for DRR, there was a focus on ideas like inclusivity, but many barriers to DRR participation have remained unaddressed and, as such, children continue to be a largely excluded group in many countries such as the UK [17]. This exclusion largely stems from the reality of school curricula that do not have extra room to incorporate DRR in subjects [6], although emerging efforts are reported to include DRR elements in subjects such as citizenship [18,19]. The exclusion of children can also be attributed to the perception of children as being unable to grasp complex concepts that pertain to DRR, the idea that disaster discussions are not age-appropriate topics, and other factors like the material accessibility of DRR learning resources and, specifically, the child-unfriendliness of pre-existing mediums of information transfer [9]. All of the above result in the creation of difficulties for DRR educators and facilitators to engage children in such topics, raising concerns over whether an opportunity is being missed in supporting the development of children’s resilience for future benefit, especially with more prevalent and worsening climate change impacts.

2.2. Creative Learning

The idea of approaching DRR through creative learning methods has become an increasingly popular topic of investigation as the need for community engagement has grown with rising risks and a general increase in overall vulnerability due to more areas becoming affected by hazards [20]. Research has suggested that integrating creative learning materials via storytelling or interactive activities enhances knowledge retention and entices individuals to engage in more proactive steps that ultimately lead to better overall outcomes during emergencies [7]. Creative approaches also allow the production of more accessible content and information presentation, especially for key stakeholder groups like children for whom it is especially important to tailor information, making complex concepts more easily accessible [15]. There is a general predisposition in academic and policy circles to treat DRR exclusively as a topic of discussion accessible mainly to experts or an able-bodied adult audience. However, such falsehoods are perpetuated through the narrow review of a selected number of learning approaches (traditional information sharing mediums—reports, articles, books, message boards, etc.) but there are many others (posters, infographics, social media posts, videos, etc.) that can serve to improve learning. Deng, Ismail and Sulaiman [13] investigated the impact of implementing natural elements within the learning environment and found that this supported engagement and curiosity toward nature, fostering motivation for greater learning and interaction in these spaces. Likewise, similar findings have been found that in large organisations where managers reward and show appreciation for employee engagement in sustainable practices and green initiatives, positive associations are made that encourage continued engagement [21]. The addition of nature within learning spaces forms part of creative learning, i.e., thinking beyond usual conventions to appeal to a wider sensory base, not simply seeing learning as happening via the visual or auditory senses [22]. The above is important because, ultimately, children have a greater capacity for being creative, so their inclusion may provide opportunities for innovation in terms of environmental action (they may reveal ideas that adults are missing). So, it is worthwhile to foster such opportunities, not only to increase children’s safety but also to potentially gain useful insights for wider DRR action.

2.3. Early Safety Education

In reflecting on children’s experiences with DRR, it is pivotal to acknowledge the current education curriculum and its limits in supporting the development of disaster resilience and engagement in DRR activities in the UK context. At present, there is no formal DRR education in schools across the UK, with geography lessons touching upon some topics relevant to natural hazards and disasters but not directly offering localised information or engaging children in emergency response activities [23] like in Japan where there are regular evacuation drills coupled with preparedness education [6,14]. Rawling [23] evaluated the UK geography curriculum, reflecting that it is constrained by a multitude of different topics, such as place, space, and the environment. And that at key stages 1 and 2, concepts of disasters are largely avoided, leaving ample time for describing landscapes and building geographical vocabulary. However, in structuring the UK curriculum in this way, the real potential of disasters is not addressed and children in the UK are denied useful learning opportunities—essentially, there is no opportunity in the UK education system for children to learn about DRR specifically, like in Japan. The above comparison between the UK and Japan can be criticised on the basis that these countries face different frequencies and magnitudes of natural hazards. However, there is growing evidence that simply engaging children in only fire drills like is done in the UK leaves them vulnerable and unprepared for the diversity of real-world emergencies that are not long-term possibilities, but rather genuine, possible daily risks [24]. Such position is supported by the growing prevalence of extreme weather events occurring across the planet, exacerbated by climate change—if children are unfamiliar with the risks posed by heatwaves, floods, and storms, society broadly becomes less resilient to the crises these events have power to create [3]. It is important to acknowledge that education absence has downstream effects, wherein the absence of learning about personal safety generates new populations as children grow up, with this lack of awareness often leading to panic, poor decision making, and ultimately higher casualty numbers when natural hazards become disasters, as was seen in the October 2024 floods in Spain [25]. Moreover, it can be inferred that poorly prepared populations strain emergency services wherein there is a need for more rescues, higher fatalities, and an overall increase in property damage—all preventable circumstances if early DRR education had been present to establish applicable DRR knowledge and corresponding, appropriate action [26]. Resultantly, there are economic as well as social incentives associated with the provision of early DRR learning opportunities.

3. Methodology

3.1. Study Design

This research sought to provide answers to the following questions.

• What items do children see as important to take during a flood evacuation event?
• How do children’s item choices reflect their understanding of disaster preparedness?

The research was an exploratory case study that employed a qualitative study design, engaging in the analysis of secondary datasets in the form of children’s flood safety kit posters (essentially a poster showing items children would take with them if there was a flooding event and they had to evacuate). The posters were produced as part of prior climate change workshops that the children engaged in at a school in the UK. These workshops fit within the school’s Climate Change Week activities focused on raising awareness environmental issues and sustainable practices, which served as an opportunity for children to engage with this topic via creating posters or visual displays to show their understanding. The workshops in 2023 and 2024 were an offshoot activity of a research project in which the authors were involved. The school later provided us with the permission to access the posters and analyse them.

3.2. Creative Drawings

Thirty-one children aged 7 who were students at a primary school in the UK drew the poster in the workshops. The children were asked to reflect on what they learned about climate change, flooding, and evacuation, using these reflections to inform their understanding about what they would do in a flood emergency. The workshops only included descriptive information about events like flooding, climate change, and evacuation, without discussing the items needed for flood evacuation. Rather, they focused on presenting what happens during a flood, how climate change relates to flooding, and what it means to evacuate—this was the only information presented to the children prior to the poster creation activity, meaning there were no prompts posed to the children. They were only asked to use their knowledge to design a poster of a flood evacuation kit with items they would take if there was a flood. They were given 1 h to create a poster showing their flood evacuation (safety) kit, illustrating the items inside. They had total freedom of what to include. The children were also asked to annotate the items to reduce the possibility of misunderstanding the contents of drawings and mischaracterising what the children were interested in bringing with them. Of the 31 posters that were produced, 8 were excluded from this research due to not including clear annotations of drawings or containing a large amount of illegible content. This meant that the risk of misinterpretation due to ambiguity could be reduced significantly. And the above represented the only inclusion criteria for posters—annotations and legibility (in the view of the researchers and the teachers). Items from each drawing were counted and tallied, as visible in

Table 1. Items with their corresponding frequency of appearance across children’s drawings.

Item	Tally	Frequency
Food	22	95.7%
Water	19	82.6%
Medicine	11	47.8%
Phone	11	47.8%
Clothing	10	43.5%
Charger	9	39.1%
Torch	7	30.0%
Tablet	5	21.7%
Gaming Console	5	21.7%
Toys	4	17.4%
Waterproof Materials	3	13.0%
Floatation Devices	3	13.0%
Pet	3	13.0%
Money	3	13.0%
Radio	2	8.6%
Oxygen Tank	2	8.6%
Blankets	2	8.6%
Pillow	2	8.6%
Plastic Bags	2	8.6%
Books	2	8.6%
Coloured Pen	2	8.6%
Mini Fridge	2	8.6%
Map	1	4.3%
Pet Food	1	4.3%
Hand Sanitiser	1	4.3%
Religious Items	1	4.3%
Paper	1	4.3%
Sleeping Bag	1	4.3%
Matches	1	4.3%
Lighter	1	4.3%

.

3.3. Analysis Approach

This study involved the collection of 31 posters and reviewing 23 of these to better understand children’s flood risk perceptions. The posters were numbered from 1 to 23. This number served as a label so that a record could be kept on an excel spreadsheet regarding each item that was present within each poster. Items were tallied to produce Table 1 and frequencies were generated to represent the salience of items more clearly across the posters. Items were also grouped to better understand the relationship between certain types of items and their corresponding frequencies across the posters.

4. Results

Below is an outline of the findings from the study, including a table that shows the frequencies of items included by the children within their posters (in their flood safety kits) as well as some example drawings with annotations for clarity (see Figure 1 and Figure 2), illustrating the actual representation of children’s outputs.

The cumulative items included by the children in their flood safety kits could be grouped into four distinct categories—Survival, Communication, Comfort, and Information—as summarised in

Table 2. The thematic strands reflecting children’s item choices.

Thematic Strands
Survival	Communication	Comfort	Information
Food	Phone	Toys	Books
Water	Charger	Tablet	Map
Medicine	Radio	Gaming Console
Clothing	Coloured Pen	Pet
Torch	Paper	Pet Food
Waterproof Materials		Money
Floatation Devices		Blankets
Oxygen Tank		Pillow
Hand Sanitiser		Mini Fridge
Matches		Religious Items
Lighter

.

The tables above indicate that there was some strong awareness of key essentials that might aid the child during a flood evacuation with many important items for survival being salient—food (96%), water (83%), and medicine (48%)—evidencing a level of consideration for immediate needs and risks associated with impending hazards. There was also recognition amongst many children for the need to maintain communication by taking a phone (48%) and some recognised the need to support this by also having a charger (39%) and plastic bags (9%). Beyond these important items, many children mentioned non-essential items that can be associated with comfort, such as gaming consoles (22%) and toys (17%). It can be expected that at this age these items play a key role in soothing or distracting from traumatic events so while they are largely impractical, in the context of a child there is some sense to their inclusion. Aside from this, there was also the uncommon inclusion of items that have the potential to yield useful information like maps (<0%) or books (9%), although few children mentioned these compared to the other items. In synthesis, items that can be classed as essential or more practically beneficial to survival (survival or communication items) had the highest salience across the posters compared with non-essential items such as comfort items.

5. Discussion

5.1. Survival as Priority

It is evident from the high presence of practically useful items (food (95.7%), water (82.6%), medicine (47.8%), and clothing (43%)) across many of the posters that capacity to meaningfully engage in DRR can be attributed to children in this age group—a proposition that challenges current exclusion of children from discussions about natural hazards and disasters [16]. These items reflected those included on emergency checklists produced by the British Red Cross, which are aimed at adults. In essence, this high percentage reflects that the children knew survival was the priority. Moreover, if children have a capacity to distinguish items relevant to their survival in an emergency at a young age, then this is an incentive to further engage this kind of understanding to foster a stronger foundation of DRR knowledge for future benefit. While it is not possible to determine from the posters the reasoning behind the inclusion of certain items over others, the significantly larger frequency of core items like food and water across most posters (with all other items having noticeably lower presence) suggests that there was a shared understanding and perception that these items carry a value in this context.

Such inference serves as evidence that there is a need for DRR presence in the curriculum, so there is also a need for policy change on this front to enable curriculum expansion. These posters are visual and participatory evidence that children are not simply passive recipients of disaster information but that they are active contributors to resilience-building—the children did not draw completely irrelevant things, some level of thinking occurred [9]. Though it should be noted that the lower inclusion of useful items for survival, like waterproof materials and flotation devices (both at 13.0%), suggest gaps in deeper knowledge that need to be addressed. However, this finding serves to support the former point as well, in that it also mandates provision of further DRR learning opportunities to strengthen understanding. The engagement with the poster exercise—crafting of the safety kit—represents compelling evidence for policymakers that DRR education can serve a practical role when adapted to younger audiences, presenting insights that would otherwise remain unknown yet hold significant relevance in relation to the overall safety of a particular community. Moreover, policymakers should therefore place greater consideration on creative learning opportunities beyond traditional, conventional approaches, as these cannot effectively or meaningfully cater to all audiences, especially much younger age groups who have never been included in DRR considerations covering learning contexts [1]. Such inclusion would widen accessibility and accountability within DRR policymaking processes, enabling more responsible co-creation.

5.2. Need for Comfort

The importance of comfort items should not be understated. There may be a predisposition to view consols as entirely useless items when considering flood safety, but such is not a wholly considerate view. Consols (21.7%) and other such items serve a soothing purpose—distracting and partially subverting attention from high pressure, intense situations, which children should not be expected to rationalise—this is one element of what separates adults and children (this higher capacity at rationalisation and emotional processing) [27]. Their presence can be explained by the innate desire to self-sooth the stress felt during an emergency that a child is experiencing—such is an understandably legitimate reaction to prevent negative consequences of unaddressed, prolonged stress [11]. Further to this, the presence of these items exemplifies two key points concerning the value of early-DRR engagement to enable sustainable development. Firstly, if through DRR school workshops it is found that children prioritise comfort items over survival items, this is the ideal environment to challenge these misconceptions, acting preventatively to reduce the risk of future mistakes due to such misprioritisation. Secondly, engagement opportunities in this context could build a clear outline about best practice in emergencies, cementing that climate change is a real risk rather than a distant idea [28]. In essence, it could be explained that while comfort items have value, there is a need to be cautious that the perceived value of such items does not prolong children’s response times during emergencies as they try to seek out these items as they evacuate. Instead, these sessions can present best practice via creative storytelling wherein an appropriate level of value is attributed to comfort items without this being overstated and misinterpreted.

5.3. Value of Communication

Many children outlined the desire to include communication devices with them such as a phone (47.8%), and with some outlining useful information sources. There are clear benefits to these items, primarily in terms of maintaining a way to communicate with the wider world (the community, the government, emergency services, etc.) during an emergency. Despite this, the value of communication access should not be overstated as time spent apart during an emergency is unpredictable, so communication cannot replace the need for fostering a good level of personal resilience through prior engagement in DRR preparedness—such a need should be impressed on adults as well as children (either can be separated) [4]. Furthermore, communication items raise vital points about the changed positionality of children in emergencies. Presently, in viewing children as dependants in their entirety, there is a risk that a child simply becomes an extension of their parents, with the expectation that they are totally reliant on them for support. However, as many real-world case studies illustrate, children and parents are not constantly conjoined in time [25]. And in being dependants, this does not need to manifest as a universality—being dependant in all things. In fact, the universal attribution of dependence reduces children’s coping capacity and increases their vulnerability to threats—it pushes children toward being unable to fend for themselves. The problems this poses are exemplified by the wider reality that children can and do get separated from their parents during disasters. Such situations require children to have access to means of communication so that they can rejoin family or simply find responsible adults. However, the fact that such situations can and do occur means that there is a need to ensure that children have DRR knowledge and skills to support themselves, at least temporarily.

6. Conclusions

6.1. Limitations and Future Research

This research utilised pre-existing data produced by primary school children in a particular school; therefore, the context within which this study takes place must be considered—the socio-economic status, religious denomination of the place, and other school circumstances could have played an influencing role in the posters that were produced, and this was not controlled for when screening the posters for viability. The age of the children is another limitation of this research. The posters that were reviewed were created by children aged 7, which means the outcomes of this research are skewed toward reflecting this age group. This is a purely circumstantial reality, and any future studies would benefit from reviewing work and interacting with a range of age groups to better reflect the views across different ages. Moreover, the small sample size and focus on one specific context means that this research has limited representativeness in terms of illustrating reflections on the wider global trends in children’s DRR awareness. However, despite these limitations, the ideas presented in this study still hold important value in presenting a case study example where children show DRR awareness, expressing visually their approach to disaster response. These findings are valuable in challenging pre-existing approaches, serving to improve discourse and mandate further research as well as education policy reflections relating to the UK context. Nevertheless, a longitudinal study is needed to fully assess the long-term impact of DRR learning in the UK context to validate the lifelong applicability of the knowledge gained. Furthermore, expanding this research to different age groups and cultural contexts could yield useful comparative insights and support the process of tailoring information to varying audiences. As of present, there is still debate as to the most pertinent factors that might be most salient when supporting learning at different age groups in the context of teaching about DRR, so any new findings would enable more tailored applications.

6.2. Synthesis and Recommendations

This exploratory study sought to gain insight into children’s flood safety perceptions by reviewing posters created as part of prior climate change workshops. From the posters, it was evident that children exhibit a level of DRR awareness via the inclusion of ‘survival’ items like food and water in their evacuation kits. Also, the presence of ‘comfort’ items to potentially manage stress in such situations illustrated the practical realities for children as well as potential challenges for DRR education that need to be addressed. The presence and types of items included by children serve to confirm and exemplify that early DRR learning opportunities can contribute to sustainable, adaptive, resilient communities, as there is a receptiveness to absorb DRR information. Though more investigation is needed to confirm the longitudinal effects of such learning interventions. Through the insights gained, this research supports efforts by the United Nations to meet the Sustainable Development Goals, specifically goals 4 (Quality Education), 11 (Sustainable Cities & Communities), and 13 (Climate Action). In advocating for DRR workshops and other learning opportunities this research seeks to support children’s learning aligning with SDG 4, while through establishing a pathway for outlining sustainable behaviour at an early age this research supports SDGs 11 and 13. Research insights serve to encourage the inclusion of DRR elements in the school curriculum and community learning to safeguard future livelihoods and support sustainable development efforts. This research advocates for future DRR workshops to support knowledge and skills development. While there is a recognition that pre-existing curricula (especially geography) are constrained, a case should be made for including DRR learning opportunities as part of extra-curricular activities, which may be more feasible and give children a choice in engagement. It would be pertinent to first include diverse school settings to broaden the insights gained.