InTeGrate Modules and Courses >Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society > Student Materials > Section 4: Society and Policy Making > Module 10: Understanding and assessing coastal vulnerabilities > Assessing Vulnerability: The Vulnerability Scoping Diagram
InTeGrate's Earth-focused Modules and Courses for the Undergraduate Classroom
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These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
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These student materials complement the Coastal Processes, Hazards and Society Instructor Materials. If you would like your students to have access to the student materials, we suggest you either point them at the Student Version which omits the framing pages with information designed for faculty (and this box). Or you can download these pages in several formats that you can include in your course website or local Learning Managment System. Learn more about using, modifying, and sharing InTeGrate teaching materials.

Assessing Vulnerability: The Vulnerability Scoping Diagram

Figuring out the vulnerability of a person, place, or thing is a surprisingly complex task. To simplify this task, scientists have developed an assessment tool known as the Vulnerability Scoping Diagram (VSD). Moving from the center outward, the VSD defines the system being studied, divides vulnerability into its three dimensions (exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity), defines components of these dimensions, and then assigns measures of these components. Each of these pieces of the VSD is described in more detail below.


These materials are part of a collection of classroom-tested modules and courses developed by InTeGrate. The materials engage students in understanding the earth system as it intertwines with key societal issues. The collection is freely available and ready to be adapted by undergraduate educators across a range of courses including: general education or majors courses in Earth-focused disciplines such as geoscience or environmental science, social science, engineering, and other sciences, as well as courses for interdisciplinary programs.
Explore the Collection »