This volume of Geographies of the Anthropocene aims to explore and redefine the Geography of Risk, a field that investigates the relationships between natural hazards, environmental transformations, and social vulnerability. By integrating approaches from physical and human geography, the book will address how societies perceive, represent, and manage risks across diverse territorial, temporal, and cultural contexts. Contributions are invited from a wide range of disciplines — geography, environmental studies, sociology, urban and regional planning, economics, political science, psychology, and technology studies — to foster an interdisciplinary reflection on the theoretical, methodological, and practical dimensions of risk.

Edited by

• Antonella Pietta (Department of Economics and Management, University of Brescia, Italy)
• Fabio Fatichenti (Department of Humanities, Ancient and Modern Languages, Literature and Cultures, University of Perugia, Italy)

Scope

In the 1940s, pioneering studies began to focus on the socioeconomic effects of natural hazards, introducing the concept of social vulnerability (White & Hass, 1975; Hewitt & Burton, 1971; Burton & Kates, 1978). In the 1970s, the French School of Geography introduced a new approach known as the “geography of risk,” which redefined the analysis of extreme natural phenomena by placing greater emphasis on the role of human factors (Tricart, 1978; Veyret & Reghezza, 2005; Vogt & Vogt, 1978; Flageollet, 1988; Escourrou, 1986; Pagney, 1994; Lamarre, 1997; Vigneau, 2005; Bravard, 2000).

This field of study explores the socioeconomic and institutional dimensions of risk, highlighting their relationship with the effects of natural events that, in vulnerable contexts, evolve into disasters. The geography of risk is traditionally addressed in academia through a multidisciplinary approach that combines the perspective of physical geography, which focuses on the material aspects of natural phenomena, with that of human geography, which examines their social and cultural implications.

This integrated approach considers risk as a complex phenomenon rooted in territorial ecosystems and socio-environmental vulnerability.

In the 1990s, the geography of risk was further enriched through dialogue with other disciplines, such as sociology and psychology, deepening the study of perceptions, cultural representations, and territorial dynamics.

In the early twenty-first century, the geography of risk underwent significant conceptual and methodological advancements. The increasing visibility of climate change impacts has intensified academic and institutional attention toward territories characterized by latent or cumulative risks (Marincioni, 2007; Bagliani, Pietta & Bonati, 2019; De Pascale, 2022; Gioia, 2023; Kelman, 2020, 2022; Greenberg & Schneider, 2025; Pérez-Morales et al., 2025). Recent research has progressively focused on urban and peri-urban contexts, where environmental pressures, social inequalities, and governance challenges intersect (Marchetti et al., 2020; Colocci, 2024; Gioia & Guadagno, 2024; Scolobig & Balsiger, 2024).

Growing awareness of socio-environmental risks within communities has underscored the need for collaborative and adaptive forms of risk governance involving scholars, policymakers, and civil society. These developments have consolidated the geography of risk as a mature interdisciplinary domain that examines the dynamic interrelations among environmental transformations, social vulnerability, and territorial resilience (De Pascale & Mercatanti, 2024; Rufat et al., 2025).

This volume seeks to gather theoretical and practical insights into the multiple dimensions of risk, understood as a dynamic intersection of environmental, social, cultural, and technological factors. We invite contributions that explore empirical, theoretical, and methodological perspectives on how risks are perceived, represented, and managed across different spatial and temporal scales.

The aim is to foster a broad interdisciplinary dialogue that connects approaches from physical, human, and economic geography with inputs from the social sciences, planning, environmental studies, and digital innovation. By encouraging diverse analytical frameworks and case studies, the volume intends to provide a synthetic overview of current challenges and future perspectives in the geography of risk.

Suggested topics of interest include, but are not limited to:

Conceptual frameworks

• The Anthropocene and new geographies of risk
• Human–environment relationships and territorial co-evolution
• Inequality, marginalization, resilience, vulnerability, and adaptive capacity
• Barriers and limits (ecological, socioeconomic, technological, etc.)
• Justice, environmental justice, climate justice, equity, and ethics

Types of risks

• Hydrogeological, seismic, volcanic, climatic, etc.
• Technological and industrial (pollution, accidents, critical infrastructure)
• Health and epidemiological
• Socio-political aspects and territorial conflicts

 Perceptions and representations

• Risk perception and awareness
• Media, cultural, and artistic narratives
• Collective memories, fears, and territorial imagery
• From awareness to action

Governance and management

• Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR)
• Mitigation policies
• Adaptation policies
• Multi-risk approach
• Ecological transition
• Planning and territorial management
• Regulatory, institutional, and policy instruments

Methods and tools

• Cartography, GIS, remote sensing, open data
• Modelling, scenarios, and simulations
• Participatory approaches and citizen science
• Risk education and communication
• Gamification

Emerging perspectives and research horizons

• Interconnected and systemic risks (climate change, health, energy, food, water)
• Technological innovations (AI, big data, digital twin) for forecasting and monitoring
• Socio-ecological transition and new vulnerabilities
• Global risks and territorial interdependencies

Important dates

• November 30, 2025: Book Chapter Proposal deadline

• December 15, 2025: Acceptance/Rejection Notification
• February 15, 2026: Full Chapter Submission
• March 31, 2026: Review Notification
• April 30, 2026: Final Version Chapter Submission
• May 2026: Final e-book version available

Submission Procedure

Interested authors should submit their proposals (max 500 words) by November 30, 2025, explaining the main topic and the objectives of the chapter.

The manuscript proposals (Word) must be sent to the following address: geographiesofanthropocene@gmail.com.

Acceptance/Rejection notification will be sent to the authors by December 15, 2025. After the acceptance notification, authors should submit full accepted chapters by February 15, 2026 formatting their manuscripts following the Editor’s guidelines. The manuscript word count must be between 4500 – 6000 words. This includes tables, illustrations, references, etc. All submissions will be reviewed in a double-blind manner.