All-Hazards Approach for a Resilient, Sustainable and Inclusive Society

The world is becoming more complex and cascading, complex and systematic risk become more important over the years. We have seen new risks, and new types of hazards, not just natural hazards but biological, technological, radiological, nuclear, cyber etc. This has urged to think of all-hazards approach (AHA) as the core of complex risk management framework. There are two major arguments evolved for all hazards approach over time. One group of researchers argue the importance of AHA by citing public health hazards, cyber security hazards etc., especially for the critical infrastructures as well as individual level hazards. The other group of researchers argue the concept of top hazards, instead of AHA, and the core to that argument is hazards may be common, but the risks are context specific based on the exposures and vulnerability. Available AHA assessment and preparedness tools both at the individual level as well as infra or asset unit level (like school or hospital or other critical infra) are available, however, its penetration and usage has been still limited. In this chapter, four critical challenges are identified as risk perception, risk assessment, risk mitigation and governance. As postscript, three key points are mentioned as: (1) AHA as assessment and THA (Top Hazards Assessment) as the key to preparedness, (2) synergy at local level is the key issue of AHA, and (3) AHA needs whole government, whole society involvement.