Ä¢¹½´«Ã½

This paper provides insights on social vulnerabilities in a Swedish context. Identifying the social groups that lack coping capacity when facing a disruptive event, but also the mechanisms that can make people vulnerable, can help policymakers to design effective disaster risk reduction strategies and build resilience among the most vulnerable segments of a population. A case study in Halmstad, Sweden, focused on climate change, water-related hazards, and interdisciplinary methods to do so.

Drawing from previous research, the researchers recognize that social vulnerability has spatial, temporal and situational dimensions and therefore varies between different contexts. The paper identifies critical factors that may produce or reinforce social vulnerability at the local level. Unpacking the characteristics of vulnerable groups is essential when designing and implementing risk strategies to ensure that no one is left behind. The key messages of the paper are:

• Disruptions in critical infrastructure and related vital societal functions are most likely to hit the most vulnerable the hardest; however, their cascading effects can put other social groups at risk that are not initially considered vulnerable.
• Local level assessments are needed, as social vulnerability depends on the spatial, temporal and situational context.
• Municipalities can use assessments of critical infrastructure and related vital societal functions as a starting point to assess social vulnerability; the impact chain model can support this assessment.