Cees van Westen is Full professor Multi-Hazard Risk Dynamics at the Earth System Analysis Department of the faculty of Geo-information Science and Earth Observation (ITC), Twente University, the Netherlands. After obtaining his MSc in Physical Geography from the University of Amsterdam in 1988, he joined the International Institute for Geo-Information Science and Earth Observation (ITC) as PhD researcher and specialized in the use of Remote Sensing and Geographic Information Systems for natural hazard and risk assessment. He is the co-coordinator of PARATUS project.