The Added Value of Voluntary Service during Earthquakes Emergencies. Prevention, Action, Communication

What is the added value of the voluntary action during natural disasters? What are the functions done by volunteers near to the Italian Civil Protection? What competences are made available by non-profit organizations? What specific, actual activities do the free will and the reference to the ethic value realize, that volunteer organizations claim distinguishing features of their work? The authors intend to answer to these questions by doing a research that will rebuild the role of one of the most ancient and important Italian voluntary organizations, Anpas, in three situations: the earthquake of L’Aquila and of Emilia Romagna, and the seismic swarm in Pollino. The prestigious, the dimensions and the always more pronounced vocation to the emergency work made this organization a protagonist of Italian civil protection. On the other hand, the unpredictable and dangerous nature of earthquakes, and the seismic nature of the national territory, made this The research strategy will integrate different qualitative actions, paying particular attention to the communication processes: 1) reconstruction of the social history of Anpas, by examining archives sources and doing interviews to volunteers; ; 2) rebuilding and analysis of activities made by volunteers during the emergences of L’Aquila and of Emilia Romagna, by studying documentary evidences and e doing interviews to privileged people; 3) analysis of the prevention campaign actually in course in Pollino; 4) analysis of the media products made by Anpas during and after these crisis.