Constructing a social vulnerability index for flooding: insights from a municipality in Sweden

In this paper, the researchers present a social vulnerability index for flooding in Sweden. They complement earlier research by assessing social vulnerability using a combined bottom-up and top-down approach with an emphasis on stakeholder involvement and local context. 

When mapping the social vulnerability index scores, the researchers  find pronounced injustices arising from the uneven distribution of social vulnerability across neighborhoods and groups. It highlights that flood risk assessments must go beyond climatic and technical parameters and consider people and their vulnerabilities, in order to design just risk reduction strategies and avoid reproducing inequalities.