THE CO-PRODUCTION OF RISK KNOWLEDGE: Initiatives emerging from Super Typhoon Haiyan

Effective risk communication entails the co-production of messages from the concerned agency acting with the recipient community. In this chapter, we study the blurring of boundaries between the knowledge providers and the knowledge recipients and link this to the issue of resilience to climate change. Co-production of knowledge is seen where residents (teachers, students, barangay officials) actively construct knowledge for themselves, and members of the public become risk communicators themselves. They learn how to translate technical bulletins about hazards such as storm surges and floods in everyday language and become local experts who can convey this knowledge to others. These efforts ensure that recipients gain greater awareness of the risks and potential impacts of disasters which can be complemented with basic skills training on what to do prior, during, and after an event. Collaboration and co-production among different sectors are key to better improving knowledge creation around risk communication.