On March 2 and 3, 2023, the first stakeholder workshop of the EU-Horizon project PARATUS (Promoting disaster preparedness and resilience by co-developing stakeholder support tools for managing the systemic risk of compounding disasters) took place in the application case study Alps, which is one of four case studies in the project. The workshop was organized by the ENGAGE working group of the Institute of Geography and Regional Research of the University of Vienna, and supported by the partners ASFINAG, EURAC, BFW and Synalp.
The project partners and external stakeholders discussed past as well as future multi-hazard events and impact chains in the Brenner corridor. The aim of the project is to increase the preparedness of first and second responders in the face of multi-hazard events and to reduce the risks associated with the impact of complex disasters on different sectors. The outcome is expected to be the development of an open-source online platform that supports the reduction of dynamic risk and systemic vulnerability due to multi-hazard disasters. To cope with this in the best possible way, the focus is especially on collaboration with different partners and stakeholders within a variety of research areas. The University of Vienna, led by Univ.-Prof. Dr. Thomas Glade and Dr. Philipp Marr, is heading the investigations of the application case study Alps. Besides the two project leaders, the project is also supported by Till Wenzel (PhD student) and Hannah Andlinger (Research assistant).
During the meeting in Tyrol, past natural disasters were discussed and the origin and impact of these disasters were considered. Furthermore, first exemplary impact chains were proposed, which visually represent the consequences and impacts of an hazardous event. Afterwards, a group visited the affected area of the case study, along the Brenner highway A13, in the course of an excursion and thus to get a better insight into possible occurring hazards and local conditions. This workshop represents the first step in co-developing tools for better decision making and the reduction of people affected by disasters and systemic risks.
More information: www.paratus-project.eu
