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The capability concept – On how to define and describe capability in relation to risk, vulnerability and resilience

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  • Lindbom, Hanna
  • Tehler, Henrik
  • Eriksson, Kerstin
  • Aven, Terje

Abstract

Capabilities-based planning and capability assessment are high on the agendas of several countries and organisations as part of their risk management and emergency preparedness. Despite this, few definitions of capability exist, and they are not easily related to concepts such as risk, vulnerability and resilience. The aim of the present study was thus to broaden the scientific basis of the risk field to also include the concept of capability. The proposed definition is based on a recently developed risk framework, and we define capability as the uncertainty about and the severity of the consequences of an activity given the occurrence of the initiating event and the performed task. We provide examples of how the response capability for a fictive scenario can be described using this definition, and illustrate how our definition can be used to analyse capability assessments prepared according to the Swedish crisis management system. We have analysed the content of 25 capability assessments produced in 2011 by stakeholders on local, regional and national level. It was concluded that none addressed uncertainty to any appreciable extent, and only a third described capability in terms of consequences and task, making it difficult to relate these capability assessments to risk assessments.

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  • Lindbom, Hanna & Tehler, Henrik & Eriksson, Kerstin & Aven, Terje, 2015. "The capability concept – On how to define and describe capability in relation to risk, vulnerability and resilience," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 135(C), pages 45-54.
    • Handle: RePEc:eee:reensy:v:135:y:2015:i:c:p:45-54
    DOI: 10.1016/j.ress.2014.11.007
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    References listed on IDEAS

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    1. Terje Aven & Ortwin Renn, 2009. "On risk defined as an event where the outcome is uncertain," Journal of Risk Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 12(1), pages 1-11, January.
    2. Charles N. Calvano & Philip John, 2004. "Systems engineering in an age of complexity," Systems Engineering, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 7(1), pages 25-34.
    3. Aven, Terje, 2012. "The risk concept—historical and recent development trends," Reliability Engineering and System Safety, Elsevier, vol. 99(C), pages 33-44.
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    Cited by:

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    3. Mariachiara Piraina & Paolo Trucco, 2022. "Emergency management capabilities of interdependent systems: framework for analysis," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 149-176, June.
    4. Stefanus Yufra M. Taneo & Sunday Noya & Etsa Astridya Setiyati & Melany, 2022. "Improving the human resource capability of food SMEs managers through training: A preliminary research," International Journal of Research in Business and Social Science (2147-4478), Center for the Strategic Studies in Business and Finance, vol. 11(9), pages 90-96, December.
    5. Johansson, Bengt & Jonsson, Daniel K. & Veibäck, Ester & Sonnsjö, Hannes, 2016. "Assessing the capabilites to manage risks in energy systems–analytical perspectives and frameworks with a starting point in Swedish experiences," Energy, Elsevier, vol. 116(P1), pages 429-435.
    6. Veronica Strandh, 2017. "Exploring vulnerabilities in preparedness – rail bound traffic and terrorist attacks," Journal of Transportation Security, Springer, vol. 10(3), pages 45-62, December.
    7. Yang, Zhuyu & Barroca, Bruno & Laffréchine, Katia & Weppe, Alexandre & Bony-Dandrieux, Aurélia & Daclin, Nicolas, 2023. "A multi-criteria framework for critical infrastructure systems resilience," International Journal of Critical Infrastructure Protection, Elsevier, vol. 42(C).
    8. Giada Feletti & Mariachiara Piraina & Boris Petrenj & Paolo Trucco, 2022. "Collaborative capability building for critical infrastructure resilience: assessment and selection of good practices," Environment Systems and Decisions, Springer, vol. 42(2), pages 207-233, June.
    9. Duchêne-Lacroix, Cédric, 2020. "Vulnerabilität und Resilienz im Kontext multilokaler Lebensführung," Forschungsberichte der ARL: Aufsätze, in: Danielzyk, Rainer & Dittrich-Wesbuer, Andrea & Hilti, Nicola & Tippel, Cornelia (ed.), Multilokale Lebensführungen und räumliche Entwicklungen: ein Kompendium, volume 13, pages 216-221, ARL – Akademie für Raumentwicklung in der Leibniz-Gemeinschaft.
    10. Misagh Faezipour & Miad Faezipour & Saba Pourreza, 2023. "Resiliency and Risk Assessment of Smart Vision-Based Skin Screening Applications with Dynamics Modeling," Sustainability, MDPI, vol. 15(18), pages 1-19, September.

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