Fostering Geoethics in Flood Risk Reduction: Lessons Learned from the EU Project LIFE PRIMES

Despite the concrete evidence of human responsibilities with the ongoing environmentalcrisis, tangible changes toward low disaster-risk development models are slow in coming anddelayed in implementation. This paper discusses the principles of geoethics underpinning floodrisk reduction by analyzing the results of the EU project LIFE PRIMES (Preventing flooding RIsksby Making resilient communitiES). Through the administration of a questionnaire, issues of floodliteracy, effective communication and individual responsibility concerning flood hazard and exposurewere investigated. Directly engaging local communities, the LIFE PRIMES project appears to haveincreased citizens attention toward environmental ethics, thus providing an encouraging perspectivefor appropriate human–environment interaction.