Perception of the Self-Exposure to Geohazards in the Italian Coastal Population of the Adriatic Basin

People living by the coast are particularly susceptible to natural hazards because of the proximity to the sea, in terms of dangerous (often deadly) and costly possible floods. Such condition, together with personal factors, can possibly influence their perception of self-exposure in the sense that other hazards may be perceived as the most impacting and the perception of the exposure to geohazards might be veiled. Therefore, we investigated the perception of self-exposure to geohazards of coastal residents of three Italian municipalities along the Adriatic Basin, involved in the European Project RESPONSe, namely, Lignano Sabbiadoro (Friuli-Venezia Giulia Region), Montemarciano (Marche Region), and Brindisi (Puglia Region). We investigated the possible influence of climate risk awareness, personal factors, namely, gender and age, and proximity of their house to the coast, on the variation of geohazards perception. Results indicate that in general people have a limited perception of geohazards, except for hydrological hazards, but the climate crisis is not fully recognized as a possible driver. Moreover, although barely recognized, age and gender influence the level of perception of geohazards. Additionally, at relatively small distances from the coast, the perception of geohazards shift to those more contingent to the respondents. Such findings suggest to the managing authorities the urge to customize different disaster risk reduction approaches to local peculiarities.