Risk management of natural disasters: Concepts and Methods

Every day, people are exposed to a variety of risks ranging from small and insignificant to larger ones, such as natural disasters. The concept of risk has been a topic of interest for researchers from different disciplines in the past fifty years. For these reasons, there are many definitions of risk which reflect a scientific discipline itself from which they originated. Managing risks of natural disasters is very complex and conditioned by the existence of well-defined and elaborated management model that will allow efficient and prompt elimination of consequences. Certainly, understanding of the perception of risk is essential for the management prosess. Namely, individuals diferently perceive risks of natural disasters due to their demographic, socio-economic and psychological characteristics. Thereby, there are various methods of risk evaluation, which are conditioned by scientific-disciplinary approach, origin and size of risks. Starting from the multi-dimensionality of risks of natural disasters, authors firstly analyze the theoretical determination of risk through the lens of different disciplines and perspectives with special emphasis on the types of risks. In addition, special attention is given to consideration of the risk management process through generally accepted models, methods and methodology of risk assessment in Serbia. Also, the paper gives an overview of the most important approaches to risks of natural disasters in social sciences.


For citations: Cvetković, V., Filipović, M. (2017). Risk management of natural disasters: concepts and methods. Conference: New directions and challenges in transforming societies through a multidisciplinary approach, At MIT University, Skopje, Macedonia