Vulnerability and Resilience to Natural Hazards

In recent years there has been growing recognition that disaster risk cannot be reduced by focusing solely on physical hazards without considering factors that influence socio-economic impact. Vulnerability: the susceptibility to the damaging impacts of hazards, and resilience: the ability to recover, have become popular concepts in natural hazard and risk management. This book provides a comprehensive overview of the concepts of vulnerability and resilience and their application to natural hazards research. With contributions from both physical and social scientists it provides an interdisciplinary discussion of the different types of vulnerability and resilience, the links between them, and concludes with the remaining challenges and future directions of the field. Examining global case studies from the US coast to Austria, this is a valuable reference for researchers and graduate students working in natural hazard and risk reduction from both the natural and social sciences.

Sven Fuchs is a senior researcher at the Institute of Mountain Risk Engineering at the University of Natural Resources and Life Science, Vienna. His research interests include high-mountain geomorphology, mountain hazard risk management, the study of coupled human-environment systems and vulnerability assessment for natural hazards. His research has taken him to the mountain regions of Europe, Southeast Asia, Central Africa and the Russian Federation.

Thomas Thaler is a research fellow at the Institute of Mountain Risk Engineering at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna. He is interested in policy issues in flood risk management in different European countries. His research focuses on risk governance and natural hazards in Europe, with particular emphasis on questions relating to the design and effectiveness of governance systems.