Creating a Cultural Program for Tsunami Education and Wayfinding in Seaside, Oregon

65 pagesIn recent years, rising sea levels due to climate change continue to increase the potential damage of natural disasters such as tsunamis, and the looming threat of a Cascadia Subduction Zone earthquake and resulting tsunami threatens the Oregon Coast. Mitigation and evacuation plans need to be more visible and well-known to people to reduce fear of the unknown, increase the ability for people to make informed decisions in the case of a disaster, and encourage people to find out and prepare more on their own and participate in disaster mitigation and preparation. This research develops two frameworks, a needs and an evaluation framework, that use a community-centric approach to design and create tsunami-related installations and programming that supplement existing tsunami wayfinding methods in Seaside, Oregon. Additionally, by emphasizing community involvement in the process of creating public art, the cultural program can strengthen community ties, bring attention to tsunami risk and evacuation, and create a product that meets the needs of the community