A functional risk society? Progressing from management to governance while learning from disasters

The intensive use of technology, accelerated urbanisation, and use of natural resources and ecosystems services that disregard the dynamics of extreme natural processes are leading to recurrent and increasingly costly disasters. These need to be understood as the result of past decisions combining multiple interests, the consequences of exposure in hazard-prone areas, and of vulnerability in human settlements and activity. The concept of risk society provides a framework for understanding the complex links between contemporary society and risk.