This webinar will discuss the development of new approaches to multi-hazard interactions, cascading impacts, and indicators, developed in the MEDiate (Multi-hazard and risk-informed system for enhanced local and regional disaster risk management) project, funded by Horizon Europe
Event Information
25 September 2024, 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm (UK time)
This event is free and open to all.
Where: online (register using the link below)
Zoom registration link
Extreme weather-driven hazards are among the most likely and costly global risks, with societal fragility confirmed repeatedly through recent events. Record-breaking events and sequences of interacting weather extremes are increasingly causing devastating impacts through severe storms, heatwaves, wildfires, droughts and floods. Climate change is altering their dependencies and exacerbating their impacts. Our interconnected world means that these impacts are not confined to one environment, sector, or society, or to within nations. These events are complex, with cascading risks and compounding impacts crossing boundaries and escalating through natural and manmade system interdependencies, economies and social constructs. This complexity makes understanding the risks of – and, crucially, the solutions to – these ‘multi-hazard’ events an immense challenge. In this presentation, we take an interdisciplinary approach to disaster risk management that recognises that natural hazards and the impacts of climate change are as complex and interconnected as our environment, people, places and systems. In this presentation, we discuss the development of new multi-hazard and multi-risk approaches that consider and communicate complex hazard interactions, vulnerability, exposure, system capacity and cascading impacts. By incorporating multi-hazards and cascading risks, we advocate an increased adoption of systems thinking and approaches, the co-production of solutions, and the use of multi-indicators that consider combinations of events to help manage complex risks now and in the future. |
Speakers
Dr. Chris White
University of Strathclyde
Dr Chris White is the Head of the Centre for Water, Environment, Sustainability and Public Health at the University of Strathclyde in Glasgow, UK. As a Reader (Associate Professor), he leads the Engineering for Extremes research group that focuses on improving the understanding of extreme weather events, hydro-meteorological hazards such as floods and droughts, and water resource management. His research interests are cross-disciplinary, including the emerging fields of multi-hazard risks, compound events, cross-sectoral cascading physical and societal impacts cascading impacts, impact-based forecasting, the application of climate services for improved decision-making and climate resilience. He leads several projects including the multi-hazard interactions and cascading impacts work package of the MEDiate (‘Multi-hazard and risk-informed system for enhanced local and regional disaster risk management’) project, funded by the Horizon Europe programme of the European Commission.
Dr. Marcello Arosio
IUSS Pavia
Dr Marcello Arosio is an Assistant Professor in flood risk assessment at IUSS University in Pavia, specializing in disaster risk assessment with 12 years of expertise in climate-related natural hazards. His professional experience covers civil and water engineering, climate-proofing infrastructure, climate risk management, and academic research in water risk assessment. He holds a PhD in Understanding and Managing Extremes and has served as a UN Specialist in Climate Change Adaptation and Disaster Risk Reduction at UNDP Viet Nam. He has also worked as an Engineer-Risk Assessment for RIMES in Thailand, focusing on extreme weather risks related to climate change. His contributions include authoring the Technical-Organizational Guidelines for a local Civil Protection system in Italy and being actively involved in the MEDiate research project. Links
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