Living with Risks: Changes in Risk Perception in the Campi Flegrei Volcanic Area (South Italy)

Campi Flegrei (Southern Italy) is the largest volcanic caldera in Europe and one of the most densely inhabited all over the world. The Campi Flegrei region has been populated for millennia and has been well known for the episodic periods of uplift, subsidence and seismicity since Roman times. Nevertheless, also due to the long time that has passed since the last eruption, the population’s awareness of living in a high-risk area is quite limited. Furthermore, spatial and emergency planning in this area has been long neglected and often ineffective. Hence, following a brief description of the most recent volcanic events occurred in Campi Flegrei, this paper provides an overview of the emergency and spatial plans and of the risk communication activities so far implemented. Then, the results of a survey carried out in the last year highlight the main gaps in hazard and risk awareness as well as in the knowledge of the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) system. A comparison of the survey’s outcomes with those of a previous one, published in 2013, allows for the understanding if residents’ risk perception and awareness have changed due to the still on-going unrest phase. The outcomes of the survey may be useful to drive local authorities towards more integrated policies to improve resilience to disasters and implement holistic DRM at all levels, in line with goal 11, target 11.9 of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).