Landslide disaster risks increase worldwide, particularly in urban areas. To design and implement more effective and democratic risk reduction programs, calls for transdisciplinary approaches have recently increased. However, little attention has been paid to the actual articulation of transdisciplinary methods and their associated challenges. To fill this gap, we draw on the case of the 1993 Quebrada de Macul disaster, Chile, to propose what we label as the Geo-Social Model. This experimental methodology aims at integrating recursive interactions between geological and social factors configuring landslide for more robust and inclusive analyses and interventions. It builds upon three analytical blocks or site-specific environments in constant co-determination: (1) The geology and geomorphology of the study area; (2) the built environment, encompassing infrastructural, urban, and planning conditions; and (3) the sociocultural environment, which includes community memory, risk perceptions, and territorial organizing. Our results are summarized in a geo-social map that systematizes the complex interactions between the three environments that facilitated the Quebrada de Macul flow-type landslide. While our results are specific to this event, we argue that the Geo-Social Model can be applied to other territories. In our conclusions, we suggest, first, that landslides in urban contexts are often the result of anthropogenic disruptions of natural balances and systems, often related to the lack of place-sensitive urban planning. Second, that transdisciplinary approaches are critical for sustaining robust and politically effective landslide risk prevention plans. Finally, that inter- and trans-disciplinary approaches to landslide risk prevention need to be integrated into municipal-level planning for a better understanding of—and prevention of—socio-natural hazards.

The conceptual distance between nature and society has been a concern within social sciences and interdisciplinary debates. We contribute to this discussion illustrating how arts have played an important role in demonstrating the entanglement of Earth and society through their ability to frame and shape the dynamics of the Earth across sensations. Through an examination of artistic representations in Chile, we seek to show how the proximity of Chilean society to the presence of volcanoes has been eloquently conveyed through various artistic styles across different historical epochs. Our study extends from the birth of the Chilean nation in 1818 to the year 2021, and examines a wide range of artistic representations, that encompass national symbols, image-making techniques, sculpture, art installations, poetry, music, and audiovisual works. Our research represents a pioneering effort to explore the diverse representations of volcanoes in Chile and has uncovered a remarkable diversity of artistic expressions that reflects the deep connection between Chilean society and volcanic processes and landscapes. Ever-present and often breathtaking, volcanoes have served as enduring symbols of national identity and as sources of inspiration for artists of diverse disciplines and aesthetic sensibilities. We illustrate how the arts reveal the relationship between volcanoes and social life and provide the basis for a detailed analysis that explores the temporal and spatial contexts in the representation of volcanoes and the human perception of geological phenomena in Chilean culture.