MOVE · Methods for the improvement of Vulnerability Assessment in Europe

MOVE will create knowledge, frameworks and methods for the assessment of vulnerability to natural hazards in Europe. It will use indices and indicators to help improve societal and environmental resilience. Floods, temperature extremes, droughts, landslides, earthquakes, wildfires and storms will be studied. Emphasis will be placed on clear, capable measurement and accounting for uncertainties. MOVE will identify gaps in existing methodologies. It will produce a conceptual framework that is independent of scale and hazard type. It analyse physical (technical), environmental, economic, social, cultural and institutional vulnerability. These will be measured for specific hazards and at different geographical scales. Methodologies will be tested in case study regions on vulnerable elements and appropriate hazard types. Case studies will enable the availability and quality of existing data at sub-national (NUTS 3-5) and local scales to be examined. MOVE will evaluate statistical data (for cities, from EUROSTAT, etc.) and remote sensing information. The case studies will integrate and combine economic damage and social vulnerability methods. The generic framework, data analysis and applicability tests will result in a standard approach to vulnerability assessment in Europe. Stakeholders will be consulted systematically in order to understand their needs and to enable MOVE to draw attention to the practical value of its methodologies. There will be six work-packages. First, terms will be defined and gaps in existing methodologies identified. Next, a generic framework will be developed, with variants for particular scales, hazards and situations. Thirdly, the methods will be applied to case studies. The fourth and fifth packages will develop co-operation processes with stakeholders and ensure that the framework and the methods are disseminated for the benefit of European citizens. Project co-ordination will occupy the final package.