290252 VO Risk Research: A contribution in applied geomorphology (2008S)

The lecture will review basic concepts of risk research. Following the historic analysis of the foundation and development of the term risk, principles of social- and natural sciences approaches will be introduced. Based on different event systems (e.g. vulcanismn, earthquakes, landslides, snow avalanches, floods, tsunamis, extrem wind, soil erosion) the various approaches will be presented for different regions. Finally the appllications of warning chains, the risk cycle, the disaster prevention through spatial planning and the recovery will be discussed. In a perspective, relations bewteen spatial dynamics of risks, the dependencies between scientifc knowledge and political application and the influence of global change to risk culture will be explained.