Research-into-Action Brief: Post-Disaster Educational Continuity in Urban Floods

Education is a right of children and all human beings. Ensuring education for all children and youth is crucial for addressing sustainability goals and for adopting effective disaster risk reduction strategies. Urban floods have widespread impacts on the education sector, including school buildings and infrastructure, institutional and organisational structures, as well as individual and community health and wellbeing. Combinations of these impacts interrupt educational continuity over both the short-term and long-term and must be minimised using tried and tested strategies. The capacities of individuals, communities and institutions must be harnessed in order to respond to the threat of flooding. This brief explores the evidence and how it shows that flood (and associated hazard) affected people are not helpless bystanders but active first-responders and change agents. There are factors that both block and enable educational continuity. The literature pinpoints areas that must be prioritised in operational and policy planning, with a focus on clear relationships, communication and consistency. Practitioners working on improving education continuity should consider that: the impacts of urban floods on school  stakeholders are many and varied; the affected people are not helpless, and their capacities are central to continuity; there are key enabling operational and policy factors; frameworks are useful; and everyday vulnerabilities must be reduced. This brief is part of a series.

The Research-into-Action Brief series includes two main tools:

1. Research-into-Action Briefs and Summaries

2. Shared Bibliography on Zotero: https://www.zotero.org/groups/1857446/ccrr__css

These tools are for practitioners working in fields of child-centred risk reduction (CCRR), climate change adaptation (CCA) and school safety. The briefs and summaries are also intended to be used for training and capacity development for practitioners and partners, including government.

The briefs provide a concise review of research findings on a range of topics which have been selected by practitioners. The briefs have a focus on how the research findings could be (or have been) applied in practice. Each brief is 6-10 pages long, and generally contains a glossary, literature review, case study or examples, practical applications, key readings, and follow-up questions.

The summaries are two pages long and provide a quick snapshot of the main messages from the briefs. These can be used to both promote the full Research-into-Action Brief, to provide a quick overview of the topic, or to promote the use of research.