Tangible visualisation for risk communication and planning in heat emergency events: a case study in Nottingham City,...

We explored the use of tangible visualisation (2D data projections onto a 3D city map) for engaging members of the public and the Nottingham and Nottinghamshire Local Resilience Forum (LRF) and to explore its potential for risk communication and collaborative emergency planning.

Exploratory workshop study of tangible visualisation of heat vulnerability in Nottingham City.

Publicly available data from Office for National Statistics (ONS) were used to create tangible visualisation of heat vulnerability on a Projected Augmented Relief Model (PARM). Risk perception was obtained before and after interaction with PARM, followed by a 2.5 h focus groups (n = 8) with members of the public and LRF.

The use of PARM significantly increased risk perception of heat events for all workshop attendees (W = 33, z = 2.11, p = 0.035) with a large effect size (0.74). The data showed that PARM helped Nottinghamshire and Nottingham LRF improve their understanding of the scale and issues associated with heat vulnerability. Furthermore, PARM also helped them assess the viability of emergency planning measures and explore or discuss various options of emergency strategies and resource allocation.

Tangible visualisation can play an important role in influencing risk perception and supporting collaborative emergency planning measures.