Presentations
Poster presented at the Open Meeting of the Human Dimensions of Global Environmental Change Research Community. 7-8 October, Rio de Janeiro, Brazil
Abstract
Vulnerability is the degree to which a system is susceptible to harm due to exposure to a perturbation or stress, and the ability of the system to cope, recover, or adapt. Vulnerability is emerging as a unifying theme promising to improve the assessment of global change and its impacts on both society and the environment in various places. However, the vulnerability concept itself is currently limited and needs improvement to do such assessments. Vulnerability''s promise hinges on the development of a broader conceptual framework through which both environmental and social stresses, and the responses of people and places to such stresses, can be integrated effectively. This framework seeks to provide a deeper understanding of the incidence, causes, and outcomes involved in vulnerability of coupled human-environment systems. Issues still needing address include how best to handle different scales, where to bound the exposure system, and how to understand what creates gaps between coping capacity and actual coping.