Natural disasters are a clear example of people living in conflict with the environment. Disasters cause human, social and environmental losses and, sometimes, even threaten geopolitical stability, as in many less developed countries. They are also a problem of global concern, even when damage is local: the mechanisms are often dependent on global meteoro-climatic circulation. Losses frequently affect several countries, as could be seen in the floods in central Europe in 2002. It is obvious that there is a clear need for a new approach, capable of incorporating the prevention of natural disasters, whilst mitigating strategies within the cycle of sustainable development. There are no thematic disciplines or political boundaries limitating initiatives: the integration of data providers, data users/information providers and information users, in a global and holistic manner, is the desired outcome of the new frontier. This book falls into this new category: multidisciplinary interventions and socio-economic point of views are the basic inputs for a changing science, implementing sustainable development for the benefit of citizens and society. It is comprised of studies and investigations which explain natural processes and modelling, as well as assessing hazards and risks and is rounded of with suggestions for sustainable development. Thus reflecting the best results of research on this topic funded by the European Commission.

Inhalt

1 The Erosion of Coasts and the Atlas of the Italian Beaches.- 2 Upwelling of the Sea over the Past 11.5 cal kyr b.p..- 3 Meteorological Factors Influencing Slope Stability.- 4 Use of Radar Rainfall Estimates for Flood Simulation in Mountainous Basins.- 5 FLOODSS: A Flood Operational Decision Support System.- 6 A Brief Overview of Hydrological Modelling.- 7 Slope Instabilities and Restauration in the Historical Town of Orvieto.- 8 Heavy Rainfall Hazards.- 9 Snow Avalanches.- 10 Land Use Planning in Hazard Mitigation: Intervening in Social and Systemic Vulnerabilities - An Application to Seismic Risk Prevention.- 11 Landslide Susceptibility Mapping: A Methodological Approach.- 12 Application of an Integrated Method for Landslide Hazard Assessment in the Area of Corvara in Badia (Dolomites, Italy).- 13 Tsunami Hazard in Southern Italy.- 14 Integrated Investigations on Landslides - The Example of the Super Sauze Earthflow.- 15 Disaster, Communication and Public Information.- 16 Natural Disasters and Sustainable Development: From Theory to Practice in Italy?.- 17 A Risk Analysis and Sustainability Approach to Natural Disaster Assessment and Mitigation Philosophy in the World.- 18 Activities of UNESCO for Natural Disaster Reduction.- 19 Reducing the Effect of Natural Hazards on Urban Areas.- 20 The Exposure of Anthropogenic Systems to Natural Hazards.- 21 Small-Scale Flooding and Muddy Floods as a Geomorphologic Hazard in Central Belgium: Some Financial Consequences.- 22 GIS and Natural Hazards.