Workshop report—Vulnerability in multi-hazard risks: Addressing its complexity and dynamics

In November 2025, an interdisciplinary group of vulnerability researchers met in Munich and identified three challenge-opportunity clusters: first, overcoming epistemological divides to enable meaningful interdisciplinary integration. Second, the interoperability of data, methods, and evidence can strengthen robustness and policy relevance. Third, vulnerability assessments must adopt fit-for-purpose levels of complexity that preserve local context while enabling cross-scalar translation. This backstory is a call-to-action to accelerate the transition of the field toward robust, policy-salient, and socially legitimate integrative and interdisciplinary research. BeginningsGiven the rising frequency and severity of climate hazards, it becomes ever more urgent to address the complexities of vulnerability while accounting for its dynamics. 1 Indeed, while the impacts of hazards themselves cannot be mitigated entirely, we can reduce the vulnerability of the elements at risk. 2 This is a complex task given the systemic nature of global society, the increasing frequency and intensity of Above image: Framing the three challenge-opportunity clusters.