Achievements of the WebTV on « natural » and technological risks

1. KNOW4DRR
Disaster Risk Reduction Knowledge
27 May 2015 in Chambéry (Savoie, France)
Université Savoie Mont-Blanc
Achievements of the WebTV on
« natural » and technological risks
www.irma-grenoble.com
Sébastien Gominet - Institut des Risques Majeurs
(Grenoble, France)
www.risques.tv

2. ü L’Institut des Risques Majeurs (Institute of natural and technological
hazard) work in the fields of disseminating preventive information and
municipal crisis management.
ü We are financed by the government at three levels : national, regional
and departmental
§ Ministry of the environment,
§ Rhone Alpes region
§ department of Isere.
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks

3. The team consists of 5 permanent
staff. We work in 4 main areas :
ü we help local districts/
municipalities/councils in the
elaboration and implementation of
crisis management plans.
ü we provide training to locally
elected representatives and local
government workers.
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks

4. ü we provide an up-to-date
information service (notably
covering new legislation but also
events, publications and political
reporting).
ü we develop educational materials :
exhibitions, information trails (for
example, along hiking paths),
books and information brochures,
websites, films, “web
documentaries”, etc.
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks

5. ü web, photography and video are totally complementary and
inseparable in our work : the photos and video give the content and
the websites provide the visibility.
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks
Database of photography in the website
www.irma-grenoble.com
Documentation section in the website
www.irma-grenoble.com

6. In 2006, the first videos consisted of short interviews made with minimal
budgets.
After this we started to write and film short documentaries based on
research carried out as a part of specific projects. These were films on :
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks
Earthquakes (12 mn) Landslides (14 mn) Flooding (14 mn)

7. Since 2009, we have chosen to
concentrate on working on video by
creating the web TV (www.risques.tv).
We had 3 aims:
ü Making the pre-existing videos more
visible
ü Having a way of broadcasting video
so as to develop other formats
ü Broadcasting videos of partner
organisations such as France 3
Alpes
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks

8. The decision to develop video was of course linked to the fact that video
has become an integral part of the web experience. But there are also
other reasons:
1. It is possible to use video in a number of different contexts
(training courses, public meetings, academic talks, conferences
or lectures…)
2. It is a tool which can be taken and used easily by other people or
organisations : school teachers, university lecturers, local
municipalities, environment agencies, government offices, etc.
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks

9. 3. Video can be seen by many people at the same time, for example
during a festival.
The web doc “ça n’arrive pas qu’aux autres” was broadcast to 2500 high school
students last year during a festival “Science and Mountains” in Grenoble.
This web doc was also broadcast during the festival “Deauville Green Award” where it was
nominated for an award in 2014.
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks

10. 4. Video is also a medium which has the potential to go beyond the
usual audiences and reach people who are unfamiliar with the issue
of natural and technological hazard.
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks
For example, in the series
“Risques VS Fiction” in
which we asked specialists of
a particular hazard to give
their opinion on films about
disasters, we hoped to reach
the “cinephiles” or the film
fans.

11. We made 11 episodes for example about the film “The day after
tomorrow” where new York city is completely frozen, or “Twister”
about tornadoes in America
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks
Episode 5, which focused on the
cartoon “Tokyo Magnitude 8”
and in which we interviewed a
psychiatrist specialising in
disasters, was much talked about
on many Manga websites.
http://www.risques.tv/video.php?id_DTvideo=237

12. 5. With video we can vary the tone of our message more easily than
with other mediums. For example, it is possible to integrate humour.
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks
Video clip, of one minute,
on the security protocol
that must be carried out in
the event of the release of
a toxic cloud from a nearby
chemical factory.
http://www.risques.tv/video.php?id_DTvideo=317

13. 6. Finally, video is an opportunity for us to question our relationship
with nature. In particular to try to change the way people perceive
nature.
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks
In the 3 episodes of “Manival, the
bad torrent”, we wanted to make the
torrent talk for itself, it became the
main narrator of the film. We wanted
to make it seem more real, with a
persona to help people realise that it is
really a living, changing entity which
physically changes from year to year.
http://www.risques.tv/video.php?id_DTvideo=225

14. ü This is what we did in the district
around the Manival torrent, where
there is a local residents
association :
§ We got in touch with them and
had several discussions with
them during the filming period.
§ And in the end we spent a day
walking along the path which
runs along the torrent
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks
ü But that’s not enough to make a film. It is also necessary to go
and meet the people once the films are finished to continue to
explain to them, to persuade them and to discuss with them.

15. ü These residents were very
interested to learn more
about their local area.
ü But certain aspects
explained in the film were
still not correctly
understood by these
people.
ü So coming back into the
field, seeing the
infrastructure, the torrent,
the mountain slopes is
also very important.
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks

16. Certain residents wanted, at that time, to really understand how the
torrent operates and how the infrastructure, that has been built to protect
them, works.
Some of them even started to question some of the big decisions that
had had to be taken concerning these infrastructures. For example:
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks
ü Why isn’t the sediment trap
cleared out regularly ?
ü Who looks after the check
dams, why, how and with what
frequency ?
Sediment trap of the Manival torrent

17. The Manival project was a very positive experience but it is also
important to get some perspective :
ü these people represent only a handful on the scale of the
numbers affected by this particular hazard
ü and it is unsure that this mobilisation of interest expressed by
these people would last over time....
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks

18. Thank you for your attention !
Contact :
sebastien.gominet@irma-grenoble.com
Institut des Risques Majeurs
15 rue Eugène Faure
38 000 Grenoble
04 76 47 73 73
Achievements of the WebTV on « natural »
and technological risks