What meaning do individuals give to coastal risks? Contribution of the social representation theory

Coastal areas are small spaces with a high concentration of various vulnerabilities. Coastal risks can be extremely complex to understand and to interpret for non-experts. Considering the social representation theory, these individuals will develop a common knowledge, socially constructed and shared among a group, to make sense of any particular risk issues to deal with the complexity of risk. In order to understand the thinking patterns associated with coastal risks, we identified the content and structure of coastal erosion and coastal flooding social representations of 208 participants living in coastal risk areas. We demonstrated that their representations varied according to their risk experience and that inhabitants without risk experience have less complex and less functional representations, and do not feel concerned or involved about risks.