ORIGINAL PAPER A fuzzy model to assess disaster risk reduction maturity level based on the Hyogo Framework for Action Paulo Victor Rodrigues de Carvalho 1,2 • Cla ´udio Henrique dos Santos Grecco 1 • Armando Martins de Souza 2 • Gilbert Jacob Huber 2 • Jose Orlando Gomes 2 Received: 31 December 2015 / Accepted: 25 March 2016 / Published online: 4 April 2016 Ó Springer Science+Business Media Dordrecht 2016 Abstract The Hyogo Framework for Action was conceived to help nations build resi- lience against disasters. This framework was negotiated and approved by the United Nations at the World Conference on Disaster Reduction, held in Hyogo, Japan, in 2005. Disaster risk reductions systems are multi-agency integrated environment needing clear goals and ways to assess their evolution for planning purposes. The assessment of risk reduction maturity levels in countries/cities is difficult due to the large amount of data that must be collected and integrated to assess what is being done within each action indicated by the Hyogo Framework. Most indicators dependent on human perception are used in this assessment, making it highly dependent on the evaluators’ perceptions. The objective of this work is to propose a participatory fuzzy model able to assess the maturity level of disaster risk reduction using indicators in line with the Hyogo Framework. We apply the model and the evaluation method in an exploratory study in the city of Rio de Janeiro where there are several communities at risk of landslides due heavy rains. & Paulo Victor Rodrigues de Carvalho paulov@ien.gov.br Cla ´udio Henrique dos Santos Grecco grecco@ien.gov.br Armando Martins de Souza armandomartins.souza@gmail.com Gilbert Jacob Huber gilbert@archive.com.br Jose Orlando Gomes joseorlando@nce.ufrj.br 1 Comissa ˜o Nacional de Energia Nuclear, Instituto de Engenharia Nuclear, Cidade Universita ´ria, Ilha do Funda ˜o, Rio de Janeiro, RJ CEP 21941-906, Brazil 2 PPGI/UFRJ, Programa de Pos-Graduac ¸a ˜o em Informa ´tica, Universidade Federal do Rio de Janeiro, Rio de Janeiro, RJ CEP 21941-590, Brazil 123 Nat Hazards (2016) 83:309–326 DOI 10.1007/s11069-016-2316-y