Stefan Greiving

A Methodology for an integrated risk assessment of spatially relevant hazards

Abstract Natural and technological disasters of the past have shown that such incidences significantly affect local and regional development. Faced with the task of ensuring economic, human and environmental development as well as insuring physical structures, planning authorities, insurance companies and emergency managers are looking for methodologies to identify highly sensitive areas in terms of their overall risk. Existing methodologies like the Natural Hazard Index for Megacities or the Total Place Vulnerability Index have limitations due to their sectoral approach, which makes them less useful for integrated spatial planning. This paper presents the Integrated Risk Assessment of Multi-Hazards as a new approach to serve as a basis for a spatial risk management process. The approach integrates various hazards into an integrated hazard map, combines this with the regions vulnerability and thus produces an integrated risk map. Moreover, the methodology offers a tool to derive weighting factors for hazards as well as for vulnerability components.

Management of natural hazards in Europe: The role of spatial planning in selected EU member states

Abstract This paper presents the results of an assessment made as a part of the research project, Applied Multi-Risk Mapping of Natural Hazards for Impact Assessment (ARMONIA). The aim was to identify which aspects in the so-called disaster management cycle are covered by spatial planning in planning practice in the European Unions member states of Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Italy, Poland, Spain and the UK. In contrast to the initial hypothesis, the analysis of planning practice has shown that the role of spatial planning in risk assessment and management in many ways has been overestimated. The results have shown that spatial planning is only one of many actors in risk management and that it is, in general, not involved in risk assessment. Further, multi-risk assessment approaches are not used in planning practice, risk indicators are hardly used and vulnerability indicators are not at all used. The paper will interpret these surprising results and will answer the question of the role of spatial planning in natural risk assessment and management.

National Climate Change Adaptation Strategies of European States from a Spatial Planning and Development Perspective

The aim of this article is to give an overview and systematic characterization of different national approaches to developing strategies of climate change adaptation from a spatial planning or regional development perspective, respectively. Based on this analysis, recommendations are made for the implementation of the Territorial Agenda of the European Union. The central research hypotheses addressed in this article are: (1) climate change impacts in Europe are distributed differently in European regions which influence the design of national adaptation strategies (NASs) in Europe as well as the planning-related fields of action; (2) the legal framework and the political-administrative system significantly determine how national adaptation responses are designed and by which institutions they are implemented and (3) spatial planning has the potential to play an important role in climate change adaptation due to its integrative, cross-sectoral character. In order to discuss the hypotheses, a meta-evaluation of already existing assessments of climate adaptation strategies was carried out, as well as nine in-depth country studies (Finland, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Poland, Spain, The Netherlands and the UK). The results show that spatial planning is only given minor attention in the assessed analyses and national strategies and that it is rather a matter of political willingness and capacity building than particular instruments or a high climate change vulnerability if spatial planning, however, plays an important role in an NAS.

European climate vulnerabilities and adaptation : a spatial planning perspective

The book builds upon the findings of a project conducted under the European observation network for territorial development and cohesion (ESPON), The ESPON Climate project. Following the stipulations of the ESPON programme and the tender for this project the territorial focus is the raison d’être and methodological core of the project as a whole and its various research actions: The outcomes of each action will be focused on what impacts global climate change will have for the different European regions and how the regions can cope with the projected impacts in order to become less vulnerable to climate change.

Risk Assessment and Management as an Important Tool for the EU Strategic Environmental Assessment

This article proposes the integration of hazard-related risk assessment and management into the Strategic Environmental Assessment (SEA) which came into force by EU Directive 2001/42/EC in 2001. The author refers in this context to the material and procedural similarities between the SEA on the one hand and risk assessment and management on the other. For that reason, such integration can be characterized as both manageable and necessary for fulfilling the SEA requirements. Moreover, the article stresses the important role of spatial planning as one of the main elements of the Directive as well as risk management of natural and technological hazards. Risk assessment in this context can be understood as an important prerequisite for risk management. Finally, the importance of this relationship for assisting present EU legislation and policy objectives will be explained.

The connection between long-term and short-term risk management strategies:examples from land-use planning and emergency management in four European case studies

Adaptation to complex and unforeseen events requires enhancing the links between planning and preparedness phases to reduce future risks in the most efficient way. In this context, the legal–administrative and cultural context has to be taken into account. This is why four case study areas of the CHANGES project (Nehoiu Valley in Romania, Ubaye Valley in France, Val Canale in Italy, and Wieprzówka catchment in Poland) serve as examples to highlight currently implemented risk management strategies for land-use planning and emergency preparedness. The focus is particularly on flood and landslide hazards. The strategies described in this paper were identified by means of exploratory and informal interviews in each study site. Results reveal that a dearth or, in very few cases, a weak link exists between spatial planners and emergency managers. Management strategies could benefit from formally intensifying coordination and cooperation between emergency services and spatial planning authorities. Moreover, limited financial funds urge for a more efficient use of resources and better coordination towards long-term activities. The research indicates potential benefits to establishing or, in some cases, strengthening this link through contextual changes, e.g., in organizational or administrative structures, that facilitate proper interaction between 1Marie Curie ITN CHANGES – Changing Hydrometeorological Risks as Analyzed by a New Generation of European Scientists risk management and spatial planning. It also provides suggestions for further development in the form of information and decision support systems as a key connection point.

A consensus based vulnerability assessment to climate change in Germany

Purpose – This paper aims to propose a collaborative approach toward an integrated vulnerability assessment to climate change in Germany that attempts to bridge the gap between scientific output and policy demand. Design/methodology/approach – Conceptually, the approach follows the definition of vulnerability as used by the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change, but it has modified this basic concept. It clearly distinguishes between three time slices (presence, near and remote future) not only regarding the change in the climatic conditions but also socio-economic development trends. Findings – The paper concentrates on the selected methodological framework, the collaborative research design and those preliminary results of the nationwide vulnerability assessment that are transferable to other settings. Practical implications – A Vulnerability Network (“Netzwerk Vulnerabilitaet”) emerged from an applied research project commissioned under the Adaptation Action Plan of the German Strategy for Adaptati...

Disaster Mitigation by Spatial Planning

The core element of spatial planning is to prepare and make decisions about future land use. Thus, disaster risks have to be taken into consideration when deciding about the usability of a plot of land. In doing so, planning is able to mitigate risk by e.g. keeping hazard threatened areas free of further development and taking care for the protection of buildings which are exposed to hazards. However, the planning cultures among Europe differ considerably. Thus, the different systems are characterised according to their main functions in order to indicate their effectiveness for disaster risk mitigation. Moreover, the role of spatial planning within disaster risk assessment and management is discussed in detail. The importance of already built-up areas is expressed, because preventive measures taken by spatial planning must fail. Here, more discourse-based approaches are needed due to the given private property rights. Further on, different options for mitigating risk by spatial planning are explained. The role of spatial planning in practise is highlighted by the example of the municipality of Barcelonette, (France).

Vulnerability assessment to heat waves, floods, and earthquakes using the MOVE framework: test case Cologne, Germany

The MOVE framework was used in order to assess vulnerability toward heat waves, floods, and earthquakes in an urban area. It focused mainly on the social dimension of vulnerability for the smallest administrative unit within the City of Cologne (city quarters) with respect to heat waves and floods using specifically designed indicators. Reference is also made about the ecological dimension of flood risk of Cologne which is mainly relevant at the regional scale. Furthermore, the institutional vulnerability of different urban authorities dealing with risk reduction and risk governance is assessed with respect to the three hazards considered. The results derived from the spatial analysis of the social dimension of risk to heat waves and floods show different patterns of vulnerability mainly defined by the exposure and provide a first base of spatial information which could serve as a good communication tool of risk for several authorities in the Cologne Municipality. Ecosystems play a role at the river basin scale as risk in Cologne is related to land use and wetlands reclamation upstream but the environment and its services seem not to get much affected at the local, urban scale due to floods. Heat waves and earthquakes are less considered in risk governance processes compared to floods.

Introduction: The components of Risk Governance

This introductory chapter discusses key issues related to aspects of hazards and risks of natural processes in Mountain areas and discusses the framework of risk governance, which aims to integrate these elements.