Disaster risk management terms and concepts

Disasters are often perceived to be caused by natural hazards but typically there are key underlying socio-economic and development factors that turn hazards and human decision-making into a disaster. Therefore, the likelihood, magnitude, and impact of a disaster often depend on the decisions made when maintaining cultural heritage, and when undertaking development activities in the vicinity of cultural heritage sites. These choices relate to the ways that natural systems are treated, the location and types of developments and methods used in maintenance and development. Each decision and action can make our cultural heritage more or less prone to disasters. This chapter (a) presents the key disaster risk management (DRM) concepts and terms, and (b) provides a critical insight into the (traditional) phases of disaster and risk management and how these can be of relevance to cultural heritage.