Abstract
The study was conducted in ethnic minority and mountainous communes of Thua Thien Hue (A Luoi and Nam Dong), where fragmented terrain is prone to flash floods, landslides, and droughts. The population depends on agriculture and forestry but is highly affected by climate change. Using a research-based approach, the study assesses hazard, exposure, sensitivity, and adaptive capacity to determine vulnerability and risk levels. Very high vulnerability covers 6.82% of the area, mainly in A Luoi (74.03%), 2.85 times higher than Nam Dong. High vulnerability accounts for 21.43%, with A Luoi (82.48%) exceeding Nam Dong (17.52%) by 4.71 times. Very high-risk areas make up 4.69%, with Nam Dong (56.35%) surpassing A Luoi (43.65%) by 1.29 times. High-risk areas (13%) are concentrated in A Luoi, 2.58 times higher than Nam Dong. To reduce impacts, key measures include forest conservation, infrastructure upgrades, disaster warnings, and sustainable livelihoods.