A no-regrets framework for sustainable individual and collective flood preparedness under uncertainty

Ommer, J., Kalas, M., Neumann, J. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-3244-2578, Blackburn, S. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0003-1959-5465 and Cloke, H. L. ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1472-868X (2025) A no-regrets framework for sustainable individual and collective flood preparedness under uncertainty. Sustainability, 17 (13). 5828. ISSN 2071-1050 doi: 10.3390/su17135828

Abstract/Summary

Why should we prepare for a flood which might never happen? Uncertainty around potential future hazards significantly limits citizens’ disaster preparedness as it influences decision-making and action taking greatly. To bridge this knowledge-action gap, we developed a novel no-regrets framework for sustainable flood preparedness under uncertainty, building on a systematic literature review (PRISMA method) and an integrative review of preparedness actions. The review of 364 articles revealed that while no-regrets principles are widely applied in climate policy and risk management, they are not tailored to personal preparedness. Our resulting framework defines clear no-regrets criteria for individual and household-level preparedness (robustness, flexibility, cost-effectiveness, co-benefits, and ease of implementation) and categorizes 80+ flood preparedness actions according to four levels of uncertainty, from unknown futures to imminent hazards. Notably, we found that long-term preparedness actions remain underutilized, psychological preparedness is largely absent, and existing guidance is biased toward physical risk reduction in high-income contexts. This framework offers a practical tool for practitioners, local authorities, and community groups to promote actionable, context-sensitive flood preparedness worldwide and can be adapted to other hazards in future work.

Item Type	Article
URI	https://centaur.reading.ac.uk/id/eprint/123320
Identification Number/DOI	10.3390/su17135828
Refereed	Yes
Divisions	Science > School of Archaeology, Geography and Environmental Science > Department of Geography and Environmental Science Science > School of Mathematical, Physical and Computational Sciences > Department of Meteorology
Publisher	MPDI
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