Youth and flood risk in rural Nicaragua: insights for risk communication and DRR policy in the Global South

Youth engagement in disaster risk reduction (DRR) remains limited, particularly in rural and hazard-prone regions of the Global South. This study examines how school-aged students in Tola, Nicaragua—a municipality highly exposed to seasonal flooding—perceive flood risk and interact with risk communication mechanisms. Based on a structured survey applied to 173 students across multiple public schools, the research explores levels of knowledge, experience with past flood events, trust in institutions and media sources, and preferences for receiving flood-related information. The findings reveal moderate awareness of flood causes and impacts, yet limited preparedness and significant variability in institutional trust. Schools serve as key information channels but lack consistent integration of DRR content, and students strongly prefer digital and visual communication tools. Age-related differences were identified in scepticism and recall of past flood events. Structural constraints, such as poor infrastructure and low family engagement, hinder awareness translation into preparedness. The study triangulates these results with comparative insights from other flood-prone contexts in the Global South. It concludes with policy recommendations to enhance youth-centred, locally grounded, and trust-based flood risk communication strategies.