ICS Seminar Series

UPCOMING

Know your flood risk – deconstructing reductionist myths of denial, complacency and blame

Presenter: Willow Forsyth

Discussant: Mel Taylor

Chair: Jess Weir

Date & Time: 22 October 2026 | 11:30am - 1:00pm

Room: EZ.G.22 Parramatta South Campus

Abstract

Unprecedented flood events continue to rise, along with catastrophic loss of property and life. Mitigation via sterilising floodplains is politically unpalatable. So too the costs of structurally protecting or relocating thousands of households above 0.5-0.2% AEP locations. Residual flood risk is forecast to rise due to population growth and climate change drivers. Government disaster strategies position whole-of-society adaptive community resilience and preparedness as the antidote. Thirty years of disaster research and practice focuses on two barriers to household flood preparedness. The hazard risk exposure ‘unawareness-awareness’ switch and the ‘awarenessaction’ gap. Despite significant public education and warning, preparedness remains low to modest. Authorised systems’ prevailing awareness and education practices tend to be generic exhortations to create cut-through with publics who can be seen as poor at gauging risk, complacent, and unwilling-to-take-action. Are these propositions about publics true? How can people gain sufficient local knowledge on flood behaviour to gauge their personal flood risk, proactively set coping strategies, and effectively enact response plans? To what extent is this ‘wicked problem’ of ineffective community engagement due to reductionist approaches from emergency managers labouring under tight standards of accountability and efficiency? What else might be possible if research and practice extend into a more complex realm of ‘preparedness behaviour’ problem framing?

Biography

Dr Willow Forsyth is a Research Fellow at the Institute for Culture and Society, WSU. Drawing on a multi-disciplinary career, she is a qualitative scholar, responding to the national goal of shared responsibility for disaster risk reduction. Her research re-frames community engagement objectives and approaches to identify what are productive systems of socioeducative risk awareness and education interventions. Willow is a surf lifesaving Patrol Captain and Chief Training Officer. As a past Director of Education for Hunter Surf Lifesaving, she has served on the SLSNSW Standing Education Committee. She is a community representative on the NSW Government's Stockton Special Advisory Panel addressing critical coastal erosion and inundation risks.

If you have any accessibility requirements, please email Denise at: d.rezk@westernsydney.edu.au

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