The purpose of the present volume is to bridge the gap between risk sciences and decision support tools, in view of a better performance in governance. In particular, the main objectives are: to define the knowledge management methods and tools applicable in risk governance; to bring experience from the application of methods and tools available in various disciplines to other fields of risk governance; to determine the present and future needs for knowledge management tools in risk governance; and to promote the development and dissemination of such tools in a problem-solving context and for educational purposes. This collection of papers addresses questions, and provides tentative answers to issues such as: 'do adequate tools for risk governance exist'; 'are they available to decision-makers'; what are the needs of the various stakeholders (i.e. planners, regulators, industry, public) for an effective risk management'; 'what new tools have to be developed in order to cover these needs', and 'what features should they have'. The range of applications and associated decision support tools to address aspects of integrated risk and vulnerability management by use of decision support systems cover numerous disciplines and fields of application including process industry, transportation, natural disasters, emerging risks, critical infrastructures, insurance, and national security related aspects.
