Structured Framework

ARC’s CBDP toolkit helps communities turn data on risks, vulnerabilities, and capacities into a practical disaster preparedness and response plan. It was developed in Afghanistan, where poverty, weak infrastructure, and environmental degradation increase the impact of floods, droughts, landslides, and other hazards. The approach is participatory (focus groups, observation, feedback) and involves local structures such as the CDMC/CDC, with actions phased into emergency, short, medium, and long-term. It also integrates environmental aspects and climate projections.

RisKIT is an educational game designed for primary schools that combines learning and fun to raise awareness among children about environmental risks and prevention measures. It includes practical exercises such as creating a risk calendar and an emergency kit, while also integrating knowledge of children’s rights in crisis situations. The goal is to develop collaboration and responsibility skills from an early age.

This guide provides practical strategies for engaging children as active participants in disaster risk reduction. It frames children not merely as vulnerable groups but as agents capable of contributing ideas, identifying risks, and supporting community preparedness. Through participatory methods, case studies, and hands-on activities, the guide demonstrates how children can be meaningfully involved in planning, prevention, and resilience-building at the community level.

This manual presents the results of the work carried out within the CUIDAR project (Horizon 2020), focused on promoting a disaster resilience culture that actively includes children and adolescents. The manual documents activities conducted in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, and the United Kingdom, showing how young people are not only vulnerable subjects but can also become key actors in disaster prevention, preparedness, and response.

In emergency situations, the rights of children and adolescents risk being violated, ignored, or underestimated due to the need to intervene quickly on aspects related to primary needs. Based on experience gained internationally and in national emergency contexts, Save the Children Italia offers practical recommendations to ensure safety, educational continuity, psychological support, and child participation, emphasizing respect for children’s rights and strengthening community resilience.

This manual represents a practical and concrete support to all operators working in emergency settings in carrying out educational activities with children and adolescents in emergency situations.

Due to its sudden nature, an emergency disrupts and significantly alters the daily life and linearity of educational interventions. It is therefore crucial to restore routine and the psycho-physical well-being of the children involved.

Feel Safe VR Experience is an immersive educational project by Save the Children Italia that uses virtual reality to teach children and adolescents how to respond safely to emergencies. Through interactive simulations of earthquakes, floods, and wildfires, participants develop practical safety skills, resilience, and awareness. The project emphasizes participation, inclusivity, and engagement to foster responsible young citizens.

The project consists of three structured workshops: Explore (building awareness of risk and resilience through storytelling and games), Experience (role-playing emergency scenarios to practice safe behaviors), and Participate (hands-on engagement via VR or the dynamic team game “Corri il Rischio”). The initiative equips children with practical skills for emergency preparedness and fosters collaboration, decision-making, and climate crisis awareness, positioning Feel Safe as a pioneering model for integrating technology and education in resilience-building.

The toolkit is aimed at school disaster management, risk prevention, and community awareness. It contains three integrated parts, which are a Participatory School Disaster Management handbook, a school disaster management plan form templates for school use and annual review, and student & community participatory activities.
It is designed to be updated over time (ring-binder approach) and adapted to different contexts.

The case illustrates how disability-inclusive DRR has been advanced in Vanuatu by shifting from ad-hoc inclusion to more systematic engagement of persons with disabilities and their representative organisations in preparedness, response planning, and community decision-making.