The collection of articles in this Special Feature is part of a larger project on "Forecasting Societies" Adaptive Capacity
to Climate Change (an Advanced Grant of the European Research Council to Wolfgang Lutz). In investigating how global change
will affect population vulnerability to climate variability and extremes, the project aims to help develop strategies that enable societies
to better cope with the consequences of climate change. In doing so, the basic hypothesis being tested is that societies can develop the
most effective long-term defense against the dangers of climate change by strengthening human capacity, primarily through education.
Education can directly influence risk perception, skills and knowledge and indirectly reduce poverty, improve health and promote
access to information and resources. Hence, when facing natural hazards or climate risks, educated individuals, households and societies
are assumed to be more empowered and more adaptive in their response to, preparation for, and recovery from disasters. Indeed the
findings from eleven original empirical studies set in diverse geographic, socioeconomic, cultural and hazard contexts provide consistent
and robust evidence on the positive impact of formal education on vulnerability reduction. Highly educated individuals and societies
are reported to have better preparedness and response to the disasters, suffered lower negative impacts, and are able to recover faster.
This suggests that public investment in empowering people and enhancing human capacity through education can have a positive
externality in reducing vulnerability and strengthening adaptive capacity amidst the challenges of a changing climate.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:VIENNA/oai:epub.wu-wien.ac.at:5791 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Muttarak, Raya, Lutz, Wolfgang |
| Source Sets | Wirtschaftsuniversität Wien |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Article, PeerReviewed |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Relation | http://dx.doi.org/10.5751/ES-06476-190142, https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/, https://www.ecologyandsociety.org/about/submissions.php#copyright, http://epub.wu.ac.at/5791/ |
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