Identifying the Underlying Risk Factors of Local Communities in Chile

Abstract

The paper addresses the design and application of a tool that was built through a participatory multisectoral process in the context of Chile and from a local and integral perspective. The tool aims to support local governments in identifying, characterizing and approaching the endogenous and exogenous variables that condition disaster risks in their territories. The design process was based on experts’ criteria and literature on disaster risk management, while various factors that affect disaster impacts and risk reduction practices were prioritized. Four dimensions were considered for the categorization of underlying risk factors: governance; territorial ordering; socio-economic and demographic conditions; and natural resources and climate change. These dimensions were sorted in forty-one variables that were selected due to their incidence in disaster risk reduction. Such variables were characterized through the application of survey to local governments and the subsequent numerical processing of the results through a multicriteria method. This generated a unique profile for each municipality that provide guiding principles to the interdisciplinary team to focus local interventions –structural and non-structural.

Keywords

• impulsores de riesgo, gobernanza local, vulnerabilidad, cambio climático, planificación urbana