It is possible to reduce the vulnerability of disaster-prone regions and their populations, if we work in a coherent, consistent and committed way, both at NGO and at donor level. I encourage you all to profit from the opportunity of this seminar to have as many lively and fruitful discussions as possible and to talk freely as individuals that have an expertise in this field. The scientific support of prevention consists of a risk analysis with respect to certain scenarios. Firstly, I want to talk about risks and how to reduce them. We cannot eliminate disasters, but we can mitigate and reduce their impact.
Risk is a product between chance, vulnerability and value-exposure.
These are three probability factors, but they are not determining factors. Let me add that there is a trend of thought right now which connects exposure and vulnerability. Often we talk about human vulnerability. But now the entire European scientific community thinks that we have to distinguish between objects and human beings. There are different types of methodologies, of verification of these types of problems, and the evaluation of this magnitude of damage.