Domains

Domains are the key factors that influence social vulnerability to climate change and are composed from the combination one or more indicators. The development of a robust composite index is heavily dependent on the selection of relevant indicators that effectively represent the underlying domains. In this study the indicator Z-scores for each domain is summed with an equal weighting to obtain the domain value for the relevant spatial area. Consensus on the weighting of domains when a range of stakeholders are involved is almost impossible (Kazmierczak et al., 2015) and therefore equal weighting is applied for all domains. Well-designed domains can simplify multidimensional complexity into aggregate measures that provide accessible and useful information to decision-makers.