Magni Michele, Fraboni Rita, Marincioni Fausto
Department of Life and Environmental Sciences, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
Health and Safety Office, Università Politecnica delle Marche, Ancona, Italy.
PLoS Curr. 2017 Jan 12;9:ecurrents.dis.5df8f1902f10be8920342035c77c14e3. doi: 10.1371/currents.dis.5df8f1902f10be8920342035c77c14e3.
On April 6th 2009 an earthquake of Mw=6.3 hit the historical downtown of L'Aquila and its hinterland causing more than 300 fatalities and severe damage to private and public buildings. At the time, the University of L'Aquila represented a major source of employment and income for the city. The earthquake impacted both the facilities and the administrative, financial and patrimonial activities of the university, bringing into the open the tendency - widespread in Italy - to rely on adaptive tactics rather than on strategic pre-disaster plans. This paper investigates the university's emergency preparedness and response capability and the strategies adopted to restore the education activities as well as avoid students migration to other universities. In addition, emphasis is placed on the role played by Student Associations in pre and post-disaster phases, and how students perceived the activities performed by these associations.
To achieve this goal, it was undertaken: i) qualitative evaluation to assess the impact of earthquake on services and facilities of the university, the emergency preparedness and the measures adopted to face the emergency, ii) survey on the role played by Student Associations, both in emergency preparedness and response, according to students' perception; iii) quantitative analysis to measure changes in the enrollment trend after the earthquake, and how university policies could curb students' migration.
The policies adopted by the University allowed to diminish students' migration; however, the measures taken by the university were based on an ad hoc plan as no emergency and continuity plans were prepared in advance. Similarly Student Associations got involved more in restoration activities than in emergency preparedness and risk awareness promotion.
Greater awareness and involvement are essential at each level (administrators, faculties, students) to plan in advance for an adverse scenario and to make important steps forward in understanding and embracing a culture of safety. The present paper is starting point for future research to deepen the emergency preparedness of Universities and the role that Student Associations may play to support and spread such a culture of safety.
2009年4月6日，一场震级为Mw = 6.3的地震袭击了拉奎拉历史悠久的市中心及其腹地，造成300多人死亡，私人和公共建筑严重受损。当时，拉奎拉大学是该市就业和收入的主要来源。地震对大学的设施以及行政、财务和财产活动都产生了影响，揭示了意大利普遍存在的一种倾向，即依赖适应性策略而非战略性的灾前规划。本文调查了该大学的应急准备和响应能力，以及为恢复教育活动和避免学生转往其他大学而采取的策略。此外，重点关注了学生协会在灾前和灾后阶段所发挥的作用，以及学生对这些协会开展活动的看法。
为实现这一目标，开展了以下工作：i）进行定性评估，以评估地震对大学服务和设施的影响、应急准备情况以及应对紧急情况所采取的措施；ii）根据学生的认知，对学生协会在应急准备和响应中的作用进行调查；iii）进行定量分析，以衡量地震后入学趋势的变化，以及大学政策如何抑制学生外流。
大学采取的政策减少了学生外流；然而，大学采取的措施是基于临时计划，因为事先没有制定应急和连续性计划。同样，学生协会更多地参与了恢复活动，而不是应急准备和风险意识提升。
在各个层面（管理人员、教师、学生）提高认识和参与度对于提前规划不利情况以及在理解和接受安全文化方面取得重要进展至关重要。本文是未来研究的起点，旨在深化大学的应急准备以及学生协会在支持和传播这种安全文化方面可能发挥的作用。
