INQUIMUS Workshop on Climate and Disaster Risk Storylines

Two poster presentations, which revolve around heat and wildfire risks, will contribute to the discussion on risk storylines.

- Characterizing heat risk: A mixed- methods approach for Austria
Eva Preinfalk^1,2, Julia Beier¹, Susanne Hanger-Kopp¹, Gabriel Bachner^2
1IIASA, POPJUS, Austria; ²University of Graz, Wegener Center, Austria

At INQUIMUS, Eva Preinfalk will present a mixed methods approach developed in the discc.at project, to establish a more nuanced understanding of how heat interacts with various socioeconomic factors, shaping individual risk and coping capacities. The approach combines stakeholder mental models of vulnerability to heat with multivariate statistical analysis of the socioeconomic indicators of the exposed population. It bridges two contrasting perspectives: the overgeneralization in quantitative studies and overly context-specific qualitative approaches. The resulting heat risk profiles provide both qualitative understanding and quantitative substance to the multifaceted nature of heat risk across the Austrian population. The developed approach enhances the understanding of within-country distributional effects of climate change, supporting the development of targeted and just adaptation that leaves no one behind.

- Understanding Stakeholder Discourses for improved Wildfire Risk Management
Xiran Dong, Anna Scolobig, JoAnne Linnerooth-Bayer, Jan Sendzimir, Alberto Fresolone, Thomas Schinko
IIASA, POPJUS, Austria

Xiran Dong will present preliminary findings of a qualitative analysis on different views and competing objectives in wildfire risk management derived. from the Firelogue research project. The focus lies on how wildfire risk and proposed risk management measures are framed based on qualitative data collected from two cross-sectoral workshops and from expert interviews. The plurality of views on nature and the relationship between human and nature are classified along the three axiological categories of the Nature Futures Framework (NFF): ‘Nature for Society’ (the instrumental values of nature to society), ‘Nature for Nature’ (the intrinsic values of nature), and ‘Nature as Culture’ (the relational values weaving human-nature relationships together). The study aims to foster a better understanding of the social constructions, views and values of the wildfire community, facilitate a holistic understanding of the complexity of wildfire risks with an interdisciplinary approach and contribute to improving decision-making processes in different contexts.