Reducing Risk Together: moving towards a more holistic approach to multi-(hazard-)risk assessment and management

Ward, Philip J.; Buijs, Sophie; Ciurean, Roxana; Claassen, Judith; Daniell, James; De Polt, Kelley; Duncan, Melanie; Gottardo, Stefania; Hochrainer-Stigler, Stefan; Šakić Trogrlić, Robert; Schlumberger, Julius; Tiggeloven, Timothy; Torresan, Silvia; van Maanen, Nicole; Warren, Andrew; Álvarez-Albelo, Carmen D.; Banks, Vanessa; Blanz, Benjamin; Casartelli, Veronica; Correa González, Jordan; Crummy, Julia; Daloz, Anne Sophie; de Ruiter, Marleen C.; Díaz-Hernández, Juan José; Díaz-Pacheco, Jaime; Dorta Antequera, Pedro; Ferrario, Davide; García-González, Sara; Gill, Joel; Hernández-Martín, Raúl; Jäger, Wiebke; López-Díez, Abel; Ma, Lin; Mysiak, Jaroslav; Ngoc Nguyen, Diep; Padrón Fumero, Noemi; Petrescu, Eva-Cristina; Reiter, Karina; Sillmann, Jana; Smale, Lara

doi:10.5194/egusphere-2025-5897

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https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5897

Preprints

17 Dec 2025

| 17 Dec 2025

Reducing Risk Together: moving towards a more holistic approach to multi-(hazard-)risk assessment and management

Philip J. Ward, Sophie Buijs, Roxana Ciurean, Judith Claassen, James Daniell, Kelley De Polt, Melanie Duncan, Stefania Gottardo, Stefan Hochrainer-Stigler, Robert Šakić Trogrlić, Julius Schlumberger, Timothy Tiggeloven, Silvia Torresan, Nicole van Maanen, Andrew Warren, Carmen D. Álvarez-Albelo, Vanessa Banks, Benjamin Blanz, Veronica Casartelli, Jordan Correa González, Julia Crummy, Anne Sophie Daloz, Marleen C. de Ruiter, Juan José Díaz-Hernández, Jaime Díaz-Pacheco, Pedro Dorta Antequera, Davide Ferrario, Sara García-González, Joel Gill, Raúl Hernández-Martín, Wiebke Jäger, Abel López-Díez, Lin Ma, Jaroslav Mysiak, Diep Ngoc Nguyen, Noemi Padrón Fumero, Eva-Cristina Petrescu, Karina Reiter, Jana Sillmann, and Lara Smale

Abstract. Moving towards a more holistic approach to disaster risk management, in which a multi-(hazard-)risk approach is central, offers many opportunities to increase society’s resilience. In 2022, we presented a research agenda of six points that could contribute towards this paradigm shift. In this paper we synthesise key learnings from the MYRIAD-EU project - which ran from September 2021 to December 2025 - reflecting on progress and challenges faced in pursuing this research agenda, and share perspectives that may help to further improve multi-(hazard-)risk assessment and management. Going forward, we point to several avenues for continued scientific research: continue the mainstreaming and mutual understanding of concepts and definitions; continue developing a strong evidence base of how multi-(hazard-)risk both shapes, and is shaped by, risk dynamics over space and time; further developing methods for providing both current and future multi-(hazard-)risk scenarios; increasing the availability of appropriate, solutions-oriented, usable tools; more explicitly including equity issues and equitable disaster risk reduction and adaptation; continue extensively testing and coproducing multi-(hazard-)risk knowledge in in-depth case studies; supporting the development of Multi-Hazard Early Warning Systems; and strengthening opportunities for Early Career Researcher leadership and empowerment within project structures. We suggest concrete ways to advance on these topics in future years and decades.

How to cite. Ward, P. J., Buijs, S., Ciurean, R., Claassen, J., Daniell, J., De Polt, K., Duncan, M., Gottardo, S., Hochrainer-Stigler, S., Šakić Trogrlić, R., Schlumberger, J., Tiggeloven, T., Torresan, S., van Maanen, N., Warren, A., Álvarez-Albelo, C. D., Banks, V., Blanz, B., Casartelli, V., Correa González, J., Crummy, J., Daloz, A. S., de Ruiter, M. C., Díaz-Hernández, J. J., Díaz-Pacheco, J., Dorta Antequera, P., Ferrario, D., García-González, S., Gill, J., Hernández-Martín, R., Jäger, W., López-Díez, A., Ma, L., Mysiak, J., Ngoc Nguyen, D., Padrón Fumero, N., Petrescu, E.-C., Reiter, K., Sillmann, J., and Smale, L.: Reducing Risk Together: moving towards a more holistic approach to multi-(hazard-)risk assessment and management, EGUsphere [preprint], https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5897, 2025.

Received: 27 Nov 2025 – Discussion started: 17 Dec 2025

Competing interests: Some authors are members of the editorial board of Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences

Publisher's note: Copernicus Publications remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims made in the text, published maps, institutional affiliations, or any other geographical representation in this paper. While Copernicus Publications makes every effort to include appropriate place names, the final responsibility lies with the authors. Views expressed in the text are those of the authors and do not necessarily reflect the views of the publisher.

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Journal article(s) based on this preprint

11 Mar 2026

Reducing risk together: moving towards a more holistic approach to multi-hazard and multi-risk assessment and management

Philip J. Ward, Sophie L. Buijs, Roxana Ciurean, Judith N. Claassen, James Daniell, Kelley De Polt, Melanie Duncan, Stefania Gottardo, Stefan Hochrainer-Stigler, Robert Šakić Trogrlić, Julius Schlumberger, Timothy Tiggeloven, Silvia Torresan, Nicole van Maanen, Andrew Warren, Carmen D. Álvarez-Albelo, Vanessa Banks, Benjamin Blanz, Veronica Casartelli, Jordan Correa, Julia Crummy, Anne Sophie Daloz, Marleen C. de Ruiter, Juan José Díaz-Hernández, Jaime Díaz-Pacheco, Pedro Dorta Antequera, Davide Ferrario, David Geurts, Sara García-González, Joel C. Gill, Raúl Hernández-Martín, Wiebke S. Jäger, Abel López-Díez, Lin Ma, Jaroslav Mysiak, Diep Ngoc Nguyen, Noemi Padrón Fumero, Eva-Cristina Petrescu, Karina Reiter, Jana Sillmann, Lara Smale, and Tristian Stolte

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1325–1345, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1325-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1325-2026, 2026

Short summary

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

RC1:
'Comment on egusphere-2025-5897', Alan Tan, 13 Jan 2026
General comments on manuscript
This manuscript highlighted the learnings gained and challenges faced in research conducted on multi-hazards risk assessment and management undertaken in the MYRIAD-EU project. The manuscript was well-written with key points easy to understand and follow. Although the manuscript did not discuss any technical approaches in details, due to the limitation of the imposed length of the manuscript and the number of contributions made throughout the project, highlighted approaches were well-cited and easy to follow if readers wants to find out more details about those approaches.
Specific comments:
The authors highlighted valuable learnings and challenges that are beneficial and insightful for DRM researchers looking to apply their research to create real world impacts in practice. Some highlighted key learnings (scientific) includes:
DRM-MR approaches needs to be holistic so as to enable understanding of interdependencies across hazards, sectors, governance.

understanding the dynamics and interactions between hazards in a multi-hazard scenario is challenging and requires use of different methods, such as storylines, machine learning and exploratory data visualisation techniques, to help untangle the complex interactions.

multi-hazards risk assessment research and solutions need to be flexible based on the sectors and scenarios it is applied to, for example the use of risk metrics will differ based on the impacted sector(s). This is to allow stakeholders to better understand the impacts of multi-hazards.

Some key learnings that extend beyond scientific research but is useful for DRM-MR researchers to consider:
no one-size fits all solutions when it comes to DRM, even more so when applied to multi-hazards, due to the dynamic nature of interactions between factors such as environment, between-hazards, vulnerabilities, governance processes and implemented adaptation measures.

importance of co-development with stakeholders involved as early as the proposal formulation stage, so as to ensure the research outputs stay relevant and integration of knowledge from different parties in the collaboration / consortium.

importance of building a common understanding in the terms and definitions and that the process of doing so needs to be an evolving process.

The authors also highlighted relevant challenges faced in their MR research journey, pointing towards potential areas for future work in advancing our capabilities and understanding in multi-hazards:
lack of datasets and scenarios to inform MR-related research and studies.

limited understanding of multi-hazards and their complexity

multiple data sources, such as from Earth Observations technologies, should be considered and integrated in applications to increase data quality and availability. The "how-to" remains an open research area.

While the authors have also highlighted some future directions for research, such as development of multi-hazards early warning systems, I would appreciate it even more if the authors were able to provide, from their perspective and experience in multi-hazards research, what is currently missing or challenges that are obstacles to the successful development and adoption of multi-hazards early warning systems in real-world.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5897-RC1
- AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Philip Ward, 11 Feb 2026
  
  We thank the reviewer for the time taken to review the manuscript. We appreciate the positive comments and the concise summary of our main highlights. Indeed, we are glad to see that the main points came across clearly in the manuscript.
  We have prepared a point by point response to both reviewers in the attached pdf file, and we believe that these changes would greatly improve the quality of the manuscript.
  Kind regards
  Philip Ward
  
  Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5897-AC1
- AC2: 'Reply on RC1', Philip Ward, 11 Feb 2026
  
  We thank the reviewer for the time taken to review the manuscript. We appreciate the positive comments and the concise summary of our main highlights. Indeed, we are glad to see that the main points came across clearly in the manuscript.
  We have prepared a point by point response to both reviewers in the attached pdf file, and we believe that these changes would greatly improve the quality of the manuscript.
  Kind regards
  Philip Ward
  
  Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5897-AC2
RC2:
'Review of "Reducing Risk Together: moving towards a more holistic approach to multi-(hazard-)risk assessment and management"', Maximillian Van Wyk de Vries, 17 Jan 2026

Please see the attached pdf for the review.

Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5897-RC2
- AC3: 'Reply on RC2', Philip Ward, 11 Feb 2026
  
  We thank the reviewer for the time taken to review the manuscript. We appreciate the positive comments on the results of the project and the paper, and very much value the suggestions to further strengthen the paper.
  We have prepared a point by point response to both reviewers in the attached pdf file, and we believe that these changes would greatly improve the quality of the manuscript.
  Kind regards
  Philip Ward
  
  Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5897-AC3

Interactive discussion

Status: closed

RC1:
'Comment on egusphere-2025-5897', Alan Tan, 13 Jan 2026
General comments on manuscript
This manuscript highlighted the learnings gained and challenges faced in research conducted on multi-hazards risk assessment and management undertaken in the MYRIAD-EU project. The manuscript was well-written with key points easy to understand and follow. Although the manuscript did not discuss any technical approaches in details, due to the limitation of the imposed length of the manuscript and the number of contributions made throughout the project, highlighted approaches were well-cited and easy to follow if readers wants to find out more details about those approaches.
Specific comments:
The authors highlighted valuable learnings and challenges that are beneficial and insightful for DRM researchers looking to apply their research to create real world impacts in practice. Some highlighted key learnings (scientific) includes:
DRM-MR approaches needs to be holistic so as to enable understanding of interdependencies across hazards, sectors, governance.

understanding the dynamics and interactions between hazards in a multi-hazard scenario is challenging and requires use of different methods, such as storylines, machine learning and exploratory data visualisation techniques, to help untangle the complex interactions.

multi-hazards risk assessment research and solutions need to be flexible based on the sectors and scenarios it is applied to, for example the use of risk metrics will differ based on the impacted sector(s). This is to allow stakeholders to better understand the impacts of multi-hazards.

Some key learnings that extend beyond scientific research but is useful for DRM-MR researchers to consider:
no one-size fits all solutions when it comes to DRM, even more so when applied to multi-hazards, due to the dynamic nature of interactions between factors such as environment, between-hazards, vulnerabilities, governance processes and implemented adaptation measures.

importance of co-development with stakeholders involved as early as the proposal formulation stage, so as to ensure the research outputs stay relevant and integration of knowledge from different parties in the collaboration / consortium.

importance of building a common understanding in the terms and definitions and that the process of doing so needs to be an evolving process.

The authors also highlighted relevant challenges faced in their MR research journey, pointing towards potential areas for future work in advancing our capabilities and understanding in multi-hazards:
lack of datasets and scenarios to inform MR-related research and studies.

limited understanding of multi-hazards and their complexity

multiple data sources, such as from Earth Observations technologies, should be considered and integrated in applications to increase data quality and availability. The "how-to" remains an open research area.

While the authors have also highlighted some future directions for research, such as development of multi-hazards early warning systems, I would appreciate it even more if the authors were able to provide, from their perspective and experience in multi-hazards research, what is currently missing or challenges that are obstacles to the successful development and adoption of multi-hazards early warning systems in real-world.
Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5897-RC1
- AC1: 'Reply on RC1', Philip Ward, 11 Feb 2026
  
  We thank the reviewer for the time taken to review the manuscript. We appreciate the positive comments and the concise summary of our main highlights. Indeed, we are glad to see that the main points came across clearly in the manuscript.
  We have prepared a point by point response to both reviewers in the attached pdf file, and we believe that these changes would greatly improve the quality of the manuscript.
  Kind regards
  Philip Ward
  
  Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5897-AC1
- AC2: 'Reply on RC1', Philip Ward, 11 Feb 2026
  
  We thank the reviewer for the time taken to review the manuscript. We appreciate the positive comments and the concise summary of our main highlights. Indeed, we are glad to see that the main points came across clearly in the manuscript.
  We have prepared a point by point response to both reviewers in the attached pdf file, and we believe that these changes would greatly improve the quality of the manuscript.
  Kind regards
  Philip Ward
  
  Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5897-AC2
RC2:
'Review of "Reducing Risk Together: moving towards a more holistic approach to multi-(hazard-)risk assessment and management"', Maximillian Van Wyk de Vries, 17 Jan 2026

Please see the attached pdf for the review.

Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5897-RC2
- AC3: 'Reply on RC2', Philip Ward, 11 Feb 2026
  
  We thank the reviewer for the time taken to review the manuscript. We appreciate the positive comments on the results of the project and the paper, and very much value the suggestions to further strengthen the paper.
  We have prepared a point by point response to both reviewers in the attached pdf file, and we believe that these changes would greatly improve the quality of the manuscript.
  Kind regards
  Philip Ward
  
  Citation: https://doi.org/10.5194/egusphere-2025-5897-AC3

Peer review completion

AR – Author's response | RR – Referee report | ED – Editor decision | EF – Editorial file upload

ED: Publish subject to minor revisions (review by editor) (17 Feb 2026) by Margreth Keiler

Dear Philip and co-authors,

Thank you for submitting your manuscript and for the considerable effort invested in this work. Following careful evaluation of the paper and the two reviewer reports, I am pleased to inform you that your manuscript is accepted pending minor revisions.

As you are aware, the manuscript type was adjusted during the review process and is now classified as an Invited Perspective. This format very well reflects the nature and intention of your contribution. The manuscript not only reports on the results of the projects, highlighting valuable lessons learned and key challenges encountered, but considering the new manuscript type it also clearly intends to stimulate an open debate among peers. I encourage you to emphasize this perspective character even more explicitly in the revised version.

Reviewer 1 has provided a thoughtful and well-structured summary of the manuscript’s main strengths and core messages. It may be beneficial to highlight these central points more clearly in the structure of the manuscript itself. Strengthening the visibility of the main insights and take-home messages, for example through adapted section framing or synthesis elements, would further enhance readability and impact.

As suggested in the reviews, incorporating additional insights from related or subsequent studies would provide added value and help position your findings within a broader scientific context.

Where the manuscript aims to draw more general conclusions, a brief reflection on the transferability of the findings would strengthen the paper as suggested by one of the reviewers. In particular, discussing how insights derived from a predominantly European set of case studies may or may not apply to other global contexts would enhance the international relevance of the contribution.

Finally, I recommend based on the review report streamlining and clarifying the terminology used throughout the manuscript, particularly regarding the terms “multi-hazard,” “multi-hazard risk,” and “multi-risk.” Providing clear and consistent definitions, ideally aligned with how these terms were used within your project, would greatly support readers from different disciplinary backgrounds.

I look forward to seeing the next version of your manuscript which I will not send out for further review, but rather, will make the decision myself, assuming no major items come up in the revised manuscript for which I need outside reviewers to aid me in my decision.

Regards, Margreth Keiler
[NHESS Executive Editor]
[Professor at University of Innsbruck & Austrian Academy of Sciences]

Hide

AR by Philip Ward on behalf of the Authors (18 Feb 2026) Author's response Author's tracked changes Manuscript

ED: Publish as is (03 Mar 2026) by Margreth Keiler

AR by Philip Ward on behalf of the Authors (04 Mar 2026)

Journal article(s) based on this preprint

11 Mar 2026

Reducing risk together: moving towards a more holistic approach to multi-hazard and multi-risk assessment and management

Nat. Hazards Earth Syst. Sci., 26, 1325–1345, https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1325-2026,https://doi.org/10.5194/nhess-26-1325-2026, 2026

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Disasters often result from interactions between different hazards, like floods triggering landslides, or earthquakes followed by tropical cyclones, so-called multi-hazards. People and societies are increasingly exposed and vulnerable to these multi-hazards. Assessing these aspects is referred to as multi-(hazard-)risk assessment and management. In this paper we synthesise key learnings from the MYRIAD-EU project, reflecting on progress and challenges faced in addressing multi-(hazard-)risk.


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