Risks have always shaped the way society has grown and evolved. Consequently, the risk concept has been studied and applied by different disciplines such as natural sciences as well as by economic, engineering, health, and insurance sectors. However, its definition and application are heterogenous and often vary among research communities. This chapter introduces the concept of risk and provides an overview of definitions and interpretations by key policy actors, including associated terms such as hazard, exposure, and vulnerability. Its use and the general importance of “risk” in the Alpine Space are emphasized, especially in the light of the increasing impacts of socioeconomic, environmental, and climatic changes on natural hazard risk by discussing resulting consequences and challenges. Furthermore, we provide an overview of the main policy actors, organizations and networks that address integrated natural hazard risk management in the Alpine Space.

Protective forests are an effective Forest-based Solution (FbS) for Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR) and are part of an integrated risk management (IRM) of natural hazards. However, their utilization requires addressing conflicting interests as well as considering relevant spatial and temporal scales. Decision support systems (DSS) can improve the quality of such complex decision-making processes regarding the most suitable and accepted combinations of risk mitigation measures. We introduce four easy-to-apply DSS to foster an ecosystem-based and integrated management of natural hazard risks as well as to increase the acceptance of protective forests as FbS for Eco-DRR: (1) the Flow-Py simulation tool for gravitational mass flows that can be used to model forests with protective functions and to estimate their potential for reducing natural hazards’ energy, (2) an exposure assessment model chain for quantifying forests’ relevance for reducing natural hazard risks, (3) the Rapid Risk management Appraisal (RRA), a participatory method aiming to identify IRM strengths and points for improvement, and (4) the Protective Forest Assessment Tool (FAT), an online DSS for comparing different mitigation measures. These are only a few examples covering various aims and spatial and temporal scales. Science and practice need to collaborate to provide applied DSS for an IRM of natural hazards.

Participatory processes have been receiving growing attention in recent decades, especially in the environmental field. There is no unique way for designing and managing a participatory process: different types of integrating stakeholders and communities have been applied, encompassing different scopes. Participatory processes become necessary when addressing complex environmental challenges, which require flexible and transparent approaches embracing diverse knowledge and values. Integrated risk management, including Ecosystem-based Disaster Risk Reduction (Eco-DRR) measures, is one example of such a challenge, being a joint responsibility of public institutions at different levels of public management and of the private sector. The project GreenRisk4ALPs is an example of how including local experts can be translated into practice. A stakeholder network analysis was carried out, which provided the basis to select the stakeholders involved in the subsequent participatory processes and to identify conflicts and interests related to Eco-DRR. Building upon this analysis, Rapid Risk management Appraisal workshops were carried out in different study areas to jointly analyze the strengths and weaknesses related to current risk management practices. Overall, the involvement of stakeholders from the beginning allowed to respond to their needs contributing to the improvement of risk management strategies in the Alpine Region.

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<p>Mountain regions are affected by various natural hazards, of which gravitational mass movements are some of the most important ones. Due to the accumulation of settlements and intense economic activities in exposed areas, mountain regions such as the Alps constitute a risk hot-spot. The threat posed by gravitational natural hazards to human activities affirms the strong need for risk management, particularly for prevention. Structural measures are increasingly applied in combination with land use planning and ecosystem-based solutions. In particular, ecosystem-based solutions not only prevent the initiation of the processes but also act as a protective barrier. These green measures have been gaining an increasing attention also due to their adaptability to respond to the challenges posed by global change. Systematic reviews on how ecosystems can be used for disaster risk reduction have been carried out; however, their focus is on urban and coastal environments or on specific natural hazards such as shallow landslides. Up to now, there is no systematic review which addresses the role of ecosystems in disaster risk reduction regarding multiple gravitational natural hazards in mountain areas.</p><p>This contribution provides such a systematic review aimed at filling this knowledge gap to give a direction for future research. The review is composed of two main parts: a quantitative bibliometric analysis followed by a qualitative review. The quantitative part, based on the Scopus peer-reviewed database, aimed to investigate the publication trend on the ecosystem-based solutions for gravitational natural hazard mitigation by comparing it with the general trend of published scientific documents. The bibliometric analysis also served as a basis to select most relevant articles on which to conduct the subsequent qualitative analysis. The content of the so selected publications was analysed qualitatively the following  predefined criteria: the natural hazards addressed, the features of the ecosystem (i.e. forest species composition, management activities, effectiveness in risk mitigation), the development of alternative scenarios to test different hypothesis, the degree of stakeholder involvement, and the monetary evaluation of the measures (i.e. comparing them to structural measures). Results show a sharp increase in the number of publications on the topic from 1980 to 2018 compared to the overall number of documents published on Scopus. Although the overall topic is gaining more attention in scientific literature, the in-depth qualitative analysis revealed that research still pays little attention to stakeholder involvement and an economic evaluation of measures. We conclude that filling this research gap might help to foster a wider adoption of ecosystem-based solutions for disaster risk reduction across mountain areas.</p>