1. Theoretical framework for the assessment of vulnerability to natural hazards and climate change [in Europe] 2. Holistic Evaluation of Seismic Risk in Barcelona 3. Holistic Approach to Assess Vulnerability to Floods at Two Different Scales in the Salzach River Basin, Austria 4. Vulnerability to Earthquakes and Floods of the Healthcare System in Florence, Italy 5. Vulnerability to Heatwaves, Floods and Earthquakes in an Urban Area: Test Case in Cologne, Germany 6. Vulnerability to Drought and Heatwave in London: Revealing Institutionally Configured Risk 7. Comprehensive Vulnerability Assessment of Forest Fires and Coastal Erosion: Evidence from Case-Study Analysis in Portugal8. Vulnerability to Heatwaves, Floods and Mass Movements in Mountainous Terrain: Test Cases in South Tyrol9. Discussion of applicability and the constraints of the framework for assessing vulnerability in different geographic and social contexts in Europe Scientific and Practical Validation of the Generic Framework

Reducing risk that emerges from hazards of natural origin and societal vulnerability is a key challenge for the development of more resilient communities and the overall goal of sustainable development. Newest global assessment reports (GAR 2011, Welle et al. 2012; IPCC 2013) underscore that risk reduction and resilience building remains a key challenge for developing and developed countries alike particularly due to the increasing exposure of people and assets in high risk zones and the intensification of extreme events in the context of climate change (see e.g. IPCC 2013). It is increasingly recognized that natural hazard associated risk and threats to human security cannot be reduced by focusing solely on the hazards. Societies will have to live with changing environmental conditions and therefore need to build resilience by reducing vulnerabilities to natural hazards. Vulnerability assessment of natural hazards and climate change has emerged in the past decades as an important research field (see e.g., Maskrey, 1984; Chambers, 1989; Pelling, 1997; Cardona, 2001; Birkmann, 2006a/b; Adger, 2006; IPCC, 2007; Bohle, 2008; Bohle and Glade, 2008; Oxfam America, 2009, Birkmann 2013) bringing together scientists from different disciplines (Fuchs, 2009)