THE DYNAMICS AND IMPACT OF INTERACTING HAZARDS WORKSHOP
Co-organized between UCL, KCL, and Southampton University
London, UK (14 February 2013)
On 14 February 2013, the First Dynamics and Impact of Interacting Hazards Workshop was convened as a collaborative effort between three PhD students – Mirianna Budimir (University of Southampton), Melanie Duncan (University College London), and Joel Gill (King's College London). The workshop, hosted this year by the UCL Aon Benfield Hazard Centre, aimed to explore current research into interacting hazards and future collaborative opportunities, as well as emphasising the importance of hazard interactions.
This one day workshop was attended by 20 participants from academia, industry and the public sector, with representatives from six universities in the UK and Europe. Short presentations were delivered on themes including defining a multi-hazard approach, tools and methodologies to constrain hazard interactions, and the effective integration of hazard interaction knowledge into hazard assessments.
Interspersed between these presentations, a large amount of time was given for small (often very animated) group discussions, with each smaller group reporting back to the larger set of participants. Discussions were wide ranging, sharing ideas about different types of evidence for interacting hazards, balancing the complexities of interacting hazards research with the needs of stakeholders, and the importance of assessing uncertainty.
The workshop highlighted the importance of interacting hazards research, as well as the challenges of retaining focus within such a broad topic. It also verified the importance of ensuring a standard terminology is developed and used within the emerging field of multi-hazard research. The convenors will be publishing a full workshop report on the interacting hazards website (www.interactinghazards.com), and hope to organise further workshops in the future.
