Risk management against indirect risks from disasters: A multi-model and participatory governance framework applied to flood risk in Austria

Hochrainer-Stigler, S., Bachner, G., Knittel, N., Poledna, S., Reiter, K., & Bosello, F. (2024). Risk management against indirect risks from disasters: A multi-model and participatory governance framework applied to flood risk in Austria. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction 106 e104425. 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2024.104425.

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Abstract

Indirect effects resulting from natural disasters, such as the follow-on consequences of initial destruction, are attracting growing attention. This is because economic losses in the aftermath of disaster events have escalated in recent years and are expected to continue to rise in the future. Despite this, the primary focus of most countries’ disaster risk management approaches remains centered on mitigating the direct effects of such events, with little attention being paid to strategies aimed explicitly at reducing indirect effects. As a result, there are limited practical solutions available for reducing these indirect damages. Most efforts remain theoretical, lacking real-world testing of frameworks specifically designed to reduce indirect risks. To address this gap, this paper aims to illuminate the issue by proposing and empirically testing how existing risk management frameworks designed for direct risks could be expanded to encompass indirect effects as well. In doing so, we create and use a framework to manage indirect risks in a collaborative process for dealing with major flood risk in Austria. We test specific challenges and explore ways to integrate the management of these indirect risks in a complex real-world scenario. Our findings suggest that linking indirect and direct risk management can be achieved with relatively modest effort. A precise systems definition proves particularly beneficial in this regard, as it can link disaster risk related dimensions with non-disaster related targets. This approach thereby opens up the possibility to explicitly include multiple dividends in the decision-making process about indirect risk management strategies.

Item Type:	Article
Uncontrolled Keywords:	Indirect risk, Risk management, Multi-model approach, Risk governance, Natural disasters, Austria
Research Programs:	Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) > Exploratory Modeling of Human-natural Systems (EM) Advancing Systems Analysis (ASA) > Systemic Risk and Resilience (SYRR)
Depositing User:	Luke Kirwan
Date Deposited:	12 Apr 2024 07:05
Last Modified:	12 Apr 2024 07:05
URI:	https://pure.iiasa.ac.at/19609

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