Indicators in risk management : a fresh perspective between hazard analyses and societies’ responses
authors
keywords
- Indicators
- Vulnerability
- Risk
- Hazard
- Management
- Climate change
document type
THESEabstract
Risk management indicators are used to mitigate the potentially dramatic effects of natural hazards. Local authorities and managers use them in elaborating rescue and urbanism plans, which do not always work, highlighting society’s vulnerability in the particular context of global environmental and climate changes. Within this context, the United Nations (Sendai, 2015) advised constructing a series of indicators to better cope with human losses and economic disasters. In fact, the question is whether or not such indicators do constitute successful decision-making tools. This interdisciplinary PhD thesis aims at identifying reliable risk indicators and societal responses related to multiple risks (natural risks and climate change impacts) to provide a governance framework for disaster risk reduction. The recent literature was critically reviewed to assess how indicators are currently being constructed in risk management. Since different societies face diverse risks and do not necessarily have the same level of local perception confronting them, two sites were selected from the Mediterranean basin, one chosen from the South coast (North Morocco), other from the North coast (the Italian island of Sardinia). Based on these findings, further ideas on a new series of less descriptive, more dynamic, and more user-friendly indicators are suggested. The obtained results could serve in future governance frameworks for the mitigation of natural hazards in the Mediterranean region and wider. Finally, the dire need for continuous work to overcome the communication gap between the scientific community, risk administrators, and the general population is encouraged.
