Sustainable Community Disaster Education in Saijo City and its Effectiveness in Landslide Risk Reduction

Many of the Japanese small and medium size cities are located in the coast, and become vulnerable to both coastal and mountain hazards. The vulnerability is increased due to increasing aged population, low resources and lack of capacity in the local governments. In this scenario, it is important that the community’s potential should be utilized in its fullest form through proper awareness raising and capacity building. Town watching and mountain watching are considered as useful tools to reduce urban risk in small and medium sized cities, where participation of local schools, its students, teachers, parents, resident associations and local government members collective watch both good and bad (vulnerable) parts of their cities. This collective watching and participatory mapping helps the engagement of school children and communities in risk reduction activities. This type of neighborhood watching is a process, and it is important to continue the initiative for effective risk reduction at community levels. Through sustainable community disaster education, it is possible to reduce the risk of landslide, and thereby making the small and medium size mountain cities safer to both geological and hydro-meteorological hazards.