RISK MANAGEMENT STRATEGIES FOR LANDSLIDES IN EUROPEAN MOUNTAIN REGIONS – CURRENT PRACTICE IN AUSTRIA AND FUTURE NEEDS

Risk management for natural hazards is based on risk assessment techniques, including methods to determine the hazard potential and procedures to analyse and evaluate the damage potential exposed. In European mountain regions, risk management for landslides is comparatively reliable with respect to the hazard process, while suggestions for the assessment of values at risk have only recently been introduced. Moreover, since neither geosystems nor social systems are static in time and space, there is a particular need for the spatial and temporal analysis of risk. However, reliable information related to tangible and intangible assets is still missing. Presenting the legal framework of dealing with landslides and associated phenomena in Austria, the current state of the art regarding mitigation concepts is presented, with a particular focus on land-use restrictions and local structural protection. Future needs with respect to a sustainable protection of settlements and infrastructure within the framework of integral risk management are presented.

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