How arts and cultural activities can reduce disaster risk and improve recovery outcomes: An interdisciplinary scoping review with thematic synthesis

Arts and cultural activities are important and increasing components of disaster recovery and resilience programs worldwide. But to date there has been little formal research about these activities and there is little evidence to inform best practice, implementation or impact assessment. This review of published research of arts participation and disaster risk reduction addresses this gap. The characteristics of this heterogenous field are presented, and three dominant themes, six content themes, and one epistemic theme are identified. Results show that arts participation programs can powerfully contribute to community wellbeing in disaster contexts, catalyse improvements in disaster education and disaster preparedness, and support communities to make sense of disaster experiences, to imagine alternative futures, and to reconfigure identity in connection to place. Through thematic synthesis, four models are presented to explain core processes and dimensions evident in arts participation programs within disaster contexts across multiple studies. These models could be applied to improve program efficacy in meeting disaster risk reduction goals. This review also demonstrates the urgent need for more rigorous research in this field, especially studies that produce evidence to inform planning, implementing and assessing the impact of arts and cultural activities. • This is the first scoping review of research about the use of arts and aligned cultural programs for reducing disaster risk. • Reviewed studies reported beneficial outcomes from participating in the arts across nine domains. • We synthesise four explanatory models that can be used to plan and evaluate arts-based programs to reduce disaster risk. • Arts programs offer innovative solutions to disaster management challenges, but more research is needed for effective use.