Geoethics and perception of seismic risk: the case of Pollino,Calabria, Southern Italy and the comparison with past societies

This work is a synthesis of research on the perception of seismic risk in the area of the Pollino, where it is been two years that an ongoing earthquake swarm is affecting the area between Calabria and Basilicata. Mr Downs has distinguished three different aspects in the perception of the environment: structural, preference and evaluation. Within this third aspect, the perception of seismic risk is an important dimension for the schedule. Starting from the territory, understood as the result of reciprocal interactions between humans and the physical space during the later stages of territorialization and reterritorialization, Geoethics can find a synthesis between humanistic and scientific knowledge in relating to the theme of disasters. The risk must be considered in its territorial nature, as a complex phenomenon which involves all aspects of the relations between man and environment. Assuming that the rupture of the dynamic equilibrium among population, environment and resources is the increasingly frequent causes of the outbreak of disasters in the academic increasing attention has been paid to the concept of resilience, for its potential to evaluate a system in a state of equilibrium and adaptation in response to a shock. Thus, the meaning adopted in the social sciences, not only in terms of natural disasters, but more generally for any change to the territory, refers to the ability to resist and recover their losses. Therefore, Geoethics can certainly help especially in educating the territory in terms of integrated risk management to become a tool that can enhance the resilience. In education-teaching, the concept of resilience is used especially for what concerns the sphere of the child's skills in effectively managing stress and difficulties of everyday life. In this context of risk, improve communications, awareness of the complexity of risk and the level of preparation would increase the resilience of the territory and to allow a more effective management and planning. In this context, a questionnaire was administered to the students of primary and secondary education in some cities and villages affected by the earthquake of Pollino, in order to bring out the knowledge actually possessed and tied to age, experience, areas of origin and the perceptions that learners show that they have in relation to seismic phenomenon. The data and opinions collected will be useful to design and build new information tools, more adapted to the needs of all citizens, compared to natural hazards such as earthquake, boosting the resilience of the territory. Keeping the memory of natural disasters could also mean knowing how to cope better and learn how to mitigate the risk. The comparison with the perception of the great earthquakes of the past, such as the 1783 in Calabria, help us to clarify the relationship between an extreme event, which is part of the dynamics of nature, and a disaster happens when human societies are not able to "absorb" an extreme event and collapse. Each company in the past has had its weaknesses that's why we must know what are the risks we are facing.