Risks and Natural Disasters in the Everyday Life of Lepanto, Puntarenas, Costa Rica

Abstract

This article presents the methodology and the results of the “Education for the prevention of natural risks” project that aims to promote risk prevention in the education sector of Costa Rica. This project is part of the extension and teaching program of the Costa Rican Volcanology and Seismology Observatory of the National University of Costa Rica (OVSICORI – UNA) and is supported by the “Programa de Desarrollo Integral de las Comunidades Rurales y Costeras” (Integral Development Program for Rural and Coastal Communities, PDICRC-UNA) at the National University of Costa Rica. The methodology was implemented in primary schools in the communities of Lepanto, Cabo Blanco, Esperanza, Pueblo Nuevo, and La Ilusión belonging to the district of Lepanto, Puntarenas, Costa Rica. The methodology combines a risk perception map prepared by children and with the help of DesInventar database that contains information about the natural events that have affected the district of Lepanto between 1988 and 2015. Another important element of the methodology involves dialogues with the local population about catastrophes such as earthquakes, landslides, avalanches, and floods, which have affected the communities. The data gathered with the methodology point out the benefits of involving children and primary school professors to promote the information about the prevention of natural risks to all the community. This project establishes the importance that the education centers of Lepanto can play to guide communities and to increase their awareness of the natural risks they are facing, as well as to find ways to mitigate them.