What communication for the risk society? Methodological experiments to develop a risk culture
This article describes the issues addressed in a bilateral research project currently under way through a France-Brazil collaboration between four research centres: PACTE and the Research Centre on Sound and Urban Environment (CRESSON), on the French side, and the Environmental Agency of the State of São Paulo (CETESB) and the Public Health Faculty of the University of São Paulo (FSP USP), on the Brazilian side. The project is designed to develop a culture of risk among people living in risk areas in São Paulo and its region, so as to make these areas more attractive to live in. We first outline the concept of the risk society adopted for our research, before analyzing this new living environment and explaining how living in the risk areas became problematic. We then define the central objective of this research, namely the development of a culture of risk that can adapt to the risk society and make living in risk areas more attractive. Finally, we identify some sensitive and participatory approaches that might be drawn on to achieve these goals.