Loading [Contrib]/a11y/accessibility-menu.js

Special Issue: Social Vulnerability and Natural Hazards

Guest Editors

Prof. Dante Di Matteo
Department of Human and Social Sciences (DiSUS), eCampus University. Via Isimbardi 10, 22060, Novedrate (CO), Italy
Email: dante.dimatteo@uniecampus.it


Prof. Eleonora Guadagno
Dipartimento di Scienze Umane e Sociali (DISUS), Università Telematica "E-campus",  Italy
Email: eleonora.guadagno@uniecampus.it

Manuscript Topics


The paradigm of social vulnerability identifies groups susceptible to the impacts of natural hazards that may struggle to avoid, respond to, cope with, or recover effectively from them. From both a political ecology and a disaster risk reduction perspective, social determinants of vulnerability are regarded as inherently intersectional, complex, and fluid, shifting both spatially and temporally. At the same time, in the context of globalization and the increasing effects of climate change—manifested across various scales and diverse settings, albeit with varying impacts—the hazardscape is being transformed, with more people living in high-risk areas than ever before. While it is established that different socio-economic patterns lead to varying responses to hazardscape, there is a need for further evidence to identify which social compositions are more or less affected by (or can react more effectively to) natural hazards. From both a theoretical-conceptual standpoint and through applied case studies, it is possible to define how social and economic determinants may relate with social and environmental vulnerabilities. Based upon the premises, this special issue encourages submitting cross-cutting analyses employing both qualitative and quantitative approaches, and welcomes both case studies and theoretical contributions, with the aim to face the following issues (but not limited to):

o identify and quantify the relationship between socioeconomic vulnerabilities (e.g., proxied by urban density, ethnicity, economic status, gender, and class) and natural hazard, by employing econometric analyses and/or counterfactual evidence-based frameworks;
o visualize the exposure to natural hazards and territorial vulnerabilities and enhance the understanding of different social and cultural responses to disasters, by using geospatial analyses (GIS, satellite images, spatial econometric models);
o gain insight into the direct experiences of vulnerable communities and how they adapt and demonstrate resilience in specific contexts, by employing qualitative approaches (ethnographic fieldwork, in-depth interviews, and case studies);
o provide new perspectives on how to promote inclusive risk management strategies by actively involving local communities in data collection and solution proposals (participatory and bottom-up approaches, focus groups);
o explore the differences between vulnerable areas and groups in heterogenous geographical contexts, highlighting how global and local inequalities influence preventive measures and resilience capacity (transcalar analyses);
o expand the theoretical frameworks related to disasters, natural hazards, catastrophes, and socio-environmental vulnerability (disaster risk reduction approaches);
o evaluate the impact of public policies and governance practices on risk management and resilience in vulnerable communities to identify potential best practices and areas for improvement.


Instruction for Authors
http://www.aimspress.com/aimsgeo/news/solo-detail/instructionsforauthors
Please submit your manuscript to online submission system
https://aimspress.jams.pub/

Paper Submission

All manuscripts will be peer-reviewed before their acceptance for publication. The deadline for manuscript submission is 30 April 2025

Published Papers(0)