Climate change is resulting in more frequent and intense natural disasters. Children are not only victims of these disasters, but are increasingly seen as key change agentsThey are particularly vulnerable, both as direct victims and natural disasters, or indirect victims as crises destroy or disrupt health systems or schools. NGO Save the Children estimates, that 1.2 billion children currently live in climate-vulnerable areas. This specific vulnerability led to a ministerial roundtable at the UN Global Forum on Disaster Risk Reduction in 2025, which highlighted the importance of ensuring safe schools from climate threats and integrating risk reduction into school curricula, as is the case in France or Italy, to support preparedness.

UNDRR has launched its campaign "Are you ready?" for the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction in 2024, focusing on children as “agents of change” with multiple events across Europe. Rosalind Joanna Cook, Head of Campaigns and Community at UNDRR, explains that the UN relies on teachers to reach children, providing them with activation toolkits from globally implemented resources, Scout badges and games such as the online game “Stop Disasters”, which reached over 1 million plays and 570,000 downloads in 2024. The aim is not only to inform children about disasters, but also the key role they can play in disaster risk reduction, in the sense that when they are empowered and learn about it in school, they can take their knowledge to their community.

Several innovative approaches are being implemented in Europe. For example, in the French Alps, primary school students are learning about the consequences of the flash floods in La Bérarde that occurred a year ago. This field trip builds on work carried out within the ExploRisk38, an online game designed to educate children in the Isère region of France about reducing the risk of natural disasters. Creators Valentin Forand and Luc François envisioned this dual approach – local environmental observation and digital learning – to make natural hazards more tangible than distant television images. The online platform serves as a resource center for teachers with a colorful, interactive interface. The approach is aimed at children aged 8-13, who experts say are the ideal age to learn about risk resilience through spontaneous curiosity and responsiveness. Forand says they aim to “transmit a culture of risk, a memory of risk and a commitment to citizenship, civic responsibility and solidarity”. It is a form of child empowermentwhich gives them the ability to act.

In Iceland, in Seyðisfjörður, the local civil defence is implementing these principles through a dedicated section on a pilot web portal. The area is a pilot area for The HuT, a European project aimed at uniting all risk reduction actors to maximise efforts to address extreme climate threats. The HuT brings together 10 pilot areas across Europe to test and adapt risk reduction tools. Ingibjörg Lilja Ómarsdóttir, Director of Recovery and Education at the Icelandic Civil Defence, says the portal will integrate educational content for elementary school children about their immediate surroundings and will be supported by workshops and thematic weeks within the school curriculum. They have learned through experience and research on post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD) that children carry trauma from previous generations through family stories. Shared experiences through initiatives such as The HuT or UNICEF resources help civil defense find pedagogical solutions to co-create tailor-made programs with children and teachers.

The consensus of the risk reduction community focuses on two goals: Building children's resilience to disasters and protecting them while developing civic responsibility through gamification. Michele Calvello, coordinator of The HuT, explains that although children were not central to the project, they were always part of The HuT’s original plan, not as a vulnerable population but as “change agents, the future of the community.” The project includes a research project with a card game on natural hazards, with the first prototype, “Safe Haven – Landslides,” focusing on landslides. The game serves three purposes for older children aged 11 to 17: increases risk awareness, helps children understand the statistical concept of threats and teaches them how populations and decision-makers can interact with threats by allowing children to manage the city’s money like adults. It also explains interactions with the community, teaching them who might be involved. Calvello emphasizes that risk reduction education should not be delivered as a lecture; therefore, the game functions as a role-playing game and “a vehicle for discussion with children.”

Natural hazard education involves paired concepts reflecting the different positions of children: current victims/future leaders, learners/educators, players, but not serious games. Ingibjörg Lilja Ómarsdóttir notes that this “immediately strengthens children’s resilience to disasters. Furthermore, children represent the next generation, future decision-makers and leaders. Therefore, it is extremely important to involve them from the beginning, already in childhood.”

Ultimately, these actions will help shape risk reduction policies. Cook reminds us that “children can challenge their parents; they can challenge their community to do more to ensure they are resilient to disasters and climate change". This leads to the goals of the Sendai Framework 2030, which are protecting children and empowering them in risk reduction – something that everyone can benefit from. JRi