While social vulnerability in the face of disasters has received increasing academic attention, relatively little is known about the extent to which that knowledge is reflected in practice by institutions involved in disaster management. This study charts the practitioners’ approaches to disaster vulnerability in eight European countries: Belgium; Estonia; Finland; Germany; Hungary; Italy; Norway; and Sweden. It draws on a comparative document analysis and 95 interviews with disaster managers and reveals significant differences across countries in terms of the ontology of vulnerability, its sources, reduction strategies, and the allocation of related duties. To advance the debate and provide conceptual clarity, we put forward a heuristic model to facilitate different understandings of vulnerability along the dimensions of human agency and technological structures as well as social support through private relations and state actors. This could guide risk analysis of and planning for major hazards and could be adapted further to particular types of disasters.

中文翻译：

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八个欧洲灾害管理系统中的“脆弱性”方法

尽管面对灾害时的社会脆弱性已受到越来越多的学术关注，但人们对参与灾害管理的机构在实践中反映这些知识的程度知之甚少。这项研究描绘了八个欧洲国家的从业者应对灾害脆弱性的方法：比利时；爱沙尼亚; 芬兰; 德国; 匈牙利; 意大利; 挪威; 和瑞典。它利用比较文件分析和对灾害管理人员的 95 次访谈，揭示了各国在脆弱性本体、其来源、减少战略和相关职责分配方面的显着差异。为了推进辩论并提供清晰的概念，我们提出了一个启发式模型，以促进对人类能动性和技术结构以及通过私人关系和国家行为者的社会支持维度的脆弱性的不同理解。这可以指导重大灾害的风险分析和规划，并可以进一步适应特定类型的灾害。