What risks can cascade from multiple hydro-meteorological hazards in Sweden and how will climate change alter the risk of disastrous domino effects? What are the implications for infrastructure and social groups and what measures are needed to reduce vulnerabilities?
The Managing vulnerabilities to multiple water hazards in Sweden (HydroHazards) project evaluates the damage that may be caused by multiple water hazards and provides policy recommendations and actions for mitigation and adaptation.
2020–2025
Impacts from multiple hazards are expected to grow with increased dependency on and vulnerability of Critical Societal Services and Infrastructure (CSSIs). Despite this, risk analyses usually study the likelihood of single events and their impacts but fail to consider the web of connections between them.
While the stable welfare society in Sweden and the Nordic countries in general, makes them among the least vulnerable societies in the world, the challenge is whether existing Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) arrangements can react to changes in society, the economy, and the physical environment due to drivers such as climate change or infrastructure development.
HydroHazards will contribute to Swedish DRR policies and practices with a specific focus on the management of multiple water hazards and potential mitigation and adaptation strategies. The project will examine how exposure and vulnerability to multiple water hazards lead to different types of cumulative and interactive impacts on CSSIs and populations. As such, the project not only strongly relates to, but also complements, the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency’s work by investigating multiple water hazards.
Journal article / This paper discusses the concepts of multiple hazards and cascading effects in relation to critical infrastructures and their vital societal functions.
16 June 2023 / About Disaster Risk and Water resources
Journal article / In this paper the authors aim to design and test a social vulnerability index to floods at a sub-municipal level in Sweden.
29 May 2023 / About Cities and Disaster Risk
SEI brief / This brief provides an overview of methods and tools and a summary of their application in a Swedish case study in the HydroHazards project.
10 November 2022 / About Cities, Climate policy and Disaster Risk
SEI brief / The authors propose using current municipal assessments as a starting point to better understand social vulnerability to weather-related disasters.
18 October 2022 / About Adaptation, Disaster Risk and Public policy
Team Leader: Cities, Communities and Consumption; Senior Research Fellow
SEI Headquarters
Feature / The key to protecting our oceans is to support decision-making by putting research and innovation at the heart of policy.
8 June 2020 / About Innovation, Public policy, Sustainable Development Goals and Water resources
Project / A new generation of action- and user-oriented climate change risk assessments.
2019 - 2022 / About Climate policy
Other publication / This policy brief explores local emission inventories for consumption-based impacts as a base for just an sustainable climate neutral Nordic municipalities
29 September 2023 / About Cities, Mitigation and Wellbeing
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