D1.3: Report on segments of vulnerability country by country basis - Inside and outside the official data

This report contains the results of the work conducted to fulfil T1.2 and T1.3 by the contributing partners of the BuildERS consortium. Both tasks focus on vulnerability. To better aligned this report with the work done in D1.2, these two tasks have been slightly reframed to address two questions:

1. Who is considered vulnerable in a sample of European countries and why?
2. Who is overlooked or not seen?

The report promotes the application of intersectionality as a useful analytical tool to uncover the variety of secondary factors affecting primary factors of vulnerability within the context of crises and disasters, where the multiplicity and fluidity of identities and experiences tend to be overlooked and individuals are simply categorised in so-called ʻtypicalʼ vulnerable groups. This intersection makes the study on vulnerability more complex, but at the same time more nuanced and helpful for a fine-grained understanding of vulnerabilities. The report calls for a shift in the way we ʻtalkʼ about vulnerability. Rather than assessing individuals belonging to a certain group, a better approach could be to take a look at the conditions that hinder them from accessing, understanding and acting upon crises and disaster and therefore improve their ability to deal with extreme events. Thus, the work of reducing vulnerability starts from answering the question What hinders individuals in building capacities?