Risk Mapping in the New Member States, A Summary of General Practices for Mapping Hazards, Vulnerability and Risk

In 2003 the Joint Research Centre conducted a survey of mapping practices in eleven (11) new Member States (Bulgaria, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia and Slovenia) for eight (8) major natural and technological hazards such as floods, forest fires, storms, landslides, earthquakes, industrial installations, transport of dangerous goods and contaminated lands. This activity was funded as part of the project entitled "Management of Natural and Technological Risks". One fundamental project objective was to examine the existing situation in each of the surveyed countries, and compare different mapping methodologies in order to define guidelines for establishing compatible risk mapping systems, in particular multi-hazard risk mapping. Therefore, a portion of this survey was targeted to improve general understanding of mapping practices in the different countries for identifying types and locations of relevant natural and technological hazards. This report summarises the findings from this survey on general practices for mapping of selected hazards, vulnerability and risk in PECO countries.JRC.G.7-Traceability and vulnerability assessmen