The Sismo on tour project: a seismology educational initiative to promote resilience within schools in northern Italy

We describe the “Sismo on Tour” experience to discuss if and to what extent educational initiatives can effectively contribute to building community resilience. In the last fifteen years a bunch of seismologists of INGV (Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia) has conducted education activities on earthquakes and tsunamis in approximately 80 schools across Liguria, Tuscany, and Piedmont (northern Italy). The activities had the dual purpose to disseminate scientific knowledge about these phenomena and to teach protection practices. These aims were reached through lectures with progressively increasing detailed content tailored to different educational grades as well as serious games. In this perspective, the Sismo on tour project has underscored the benefits of risk education through play, particularly during a time when skepticism regarded educational games as largely ineffective and unproductive. In recent years, the increase in collaborations between schools and Civil Protection on one side and scientific institutions on the other has confirmed that preparedness for risks (both natural and anthropogenic) should be a significant theme in the civic education matter at school. Learning through play could be the guiding principle for a more sustainable and resilient society, and to this aim Sismo on tour represents a groundbreaking experiment. We believe that the model, here applied to seismological issues, could also be exported to other natural hazards.