The initial stages of formation of this commission will involve the bringing together of a dynamic group of workers with interest and experience in related fields, the definition of a list of working goals and objectives, and putting into place a schedule of activities. At IAVCEI 2013, we will be visiting the commission meetings of the other relevant commissions to advertise our efforts in initiating this commission. Once approved, initial efforts will be focused on hazard mapping because the previous and ongoing activities have been working on this theme and it would be timely and effective if the initial commission efforts were to lever this momentum.

The following is a list of high-priority activities:

 #  Hold initial meeting at IAVCEI 2013. Bring together interested participants and propose a group of initial leaders. Establish contact with the three related commissions and discuss how to manage areas of overlap in order to best benefit each commission.
 # The generation of a series of products - review documents hazard-related issues. The five topics listed in the proposal outline form a natural progression of increasing complexity, so the initial 5-year project plan would result in a series of products until the five topics have been covered. These products would be in the form of documents that provide community-driven guidelines and that can be given an IAVCEI stamp of approval. This would be the central focus of the commissions initial efforts.
 ## IAVCEI Guidelines for the Development of Volcanic Hazard Maps 
 ## IAVCEI Guidelines for Hazard Assessments
 ## IAVCEI Guidelines for Risk Assessments
 ## IAVCEI Guidelines for the analysis of Risk Perception and Communication
 ## IAVCEI Guidelines for Science into Policy
These guidelines would balance having some level of specificity but also be flexible enough for local implementation in different cultural, political, and scientific environments.  The documents would provide a concise common starting place for workers embarking on these various topics which nucleate and focus discussions within the volcanology community and give IAVCEI a strong and practical tie to tools that would be used "on the ground."   Such an effort would also form a focused basis for linking in other related efforts such as the Tephra Working Group, and Model Benchmarking Group, etc.
 # Collaborate with, support and attend existing workshops and meetings held which relate to volcanic hazards. There are currently several international projects which hold regular workshops and meetings on volcanic hazard related topics (e.g. VOPB, STREVA, GVM, VUELCO). We propose, instead of holding a plethora of more workshops and meetings, this commission will concentrate efforts and strengthen what is already being planned (where apprppriate). An example is the upcoming VOBP workshop on Communicating hazards, which some of this commission’s leadership will attend. The main objectives at these initial meetings will be to advertise the goals and objectives of this commission, and recruit long-term members, but also to ensure that relevant project outcomes feed into the wider commission products, where they can then be used to benefit a much wider community.
 # Promote the integration of cyberinfrastructure approaches. Use and promote the use of cyberinfrastructure initiatives like VHub. This is a major knowledge exchange infrastructure, which can fundamentally alter the landscape of how collaborative work in volcanic hazards can be undertaken.