The article looks at how participatory visual methods such as community mapping, drawing, photography, or video can help communities express their own understanding of hazards like floods or storms, vulnerabilities, and local resources. Instead of outsiders assuming what problems matter, visual methods give community members tools to show what they see and experience. This helps reveal local insights such as where water collects, which homes are most at risk, or which paths people use during emergencies that may not appear in technical reports.
By using these tools, communities can co-create disaster risk information together. When people map risks, share stories, and discuss their visual outputs collectively, it builds shared understanding, trust, and ownership. It also allows the voices of those often excluded, such as women, elders, or marginalised groups, to help shape disaster preparedness plans. Local emergencies, seasonal changes, and social relationships are brought into the conversation in a way that top-down plans often miss. The authors explain that this approach supports a shift from externally designed disaster plans to community-derived risk management strategies. In practice, this makes responses more relevant, timely, and accepted by the community. It also builds local capacity as people gain confidence and skills to monitor hazards and advocate for changes in infrastructure or policy. In short, when communities lead through visual and participatory tools, disaster risk planning becomes more inclusive, grounded, and sustainable.
This work was funded by UKRI GCRF. For more information explore the Water and Fire website.