RESILIENHANCE platform

América Bendito is a civil engineer with MSc and PhD in Structural Engineering. Working in UNESCO in the Disaster Risk Reduction Unit. She has played a leading role in various projects mainstreaming Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation, and has more than 20 years of inter-disciplinary experience as university professor, researcher, advisor, and consultant in Venezuela, Spain, Italy, USA, Kenya, Rwanda, El Salvador, and Fiji. She has identified multi-risk maps co-developed with key stakeholders through a transdisciplinary process, and rooted in updated building codes, as a priority entry point to ground resilience and support sustainable development. She is a member of the Scientific Committee of the Knowledge Action Network on Emergent Risk and Extreme Events (Risk KAN), which is a Future Earth Global Research Network and a joint initiative of the Future Earth, IRDR, WCRP and WWRP programs.

Ingrid Belčáková is an assistant professor at UNESCO Chair/Department for Sustainable Development and Ecological Awareness, Faculty of Ecology and Environmental Sciences, Technical University in Zvolen and has authored 3 books. She has been active in landscape planning and management issues since 1994, as a lecturer, practitioner and researcher. Her PhD has been obtained in Environmental Planning and Management in 2002, her habilitation has been done in the field of spatial planning in 2006. An important part of her academic output is EIA/SEA and land-use planning resulting in a number of articles and books at international context. Her research focuses mainly on landscape development and landscape management plans. Over the last 10 years she participated in a wide range of national scientific projects (more than 20) and has experience with interdisciplinary research teams in the EU programmes dealing with landscape management and planning themes.

Daniela Di Bucci is a Structural Geologist, PhD in Earth Sciences. She also holds a Master's degree in Behavioural Sciences and Administrations. She works at the International Relations and Activities Unit of the Italian Civil Protection Department (Presidency of the Council of Ministers). She is an expert on geo-hazards and, more generally, on the relationship between the scientific community and policy makers in the field of disaster risk reduction and civil protection. As part of her activities, she provides technical and scientific contributions: in the definition of the content of agreements and conventions of the Civil Protection Department with universities and research institutes; in supporting the Major Risks Commission; in the interaction with Ministries and Public Administrations on issues related to Disaster Risk Reduction; and, more generally, in the definition of strategies aimed at understanding and reducing disaster risks at national and international level. In the latter context, in particular, she participates: in collaborations with the Directorates General of the European Commission dealing with civil protection issues (DG-ECHO, JRC); in the Governing Board of the Global Earthquake Model programme; in European scientific projects (Advisory Boards, Operational Units, etc.); in activities promoted by UN-DRR for the disaster risk reduction, such as the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030, and the consequent commitments at national level. She is the Author of more than 110 peer-reviewed scientific publications, national and international, and of more than 180 participations in conferences and congresses, as well as of technical and educational publications.

Mr. Fortuna graduated at University of Trieste in International Relations. After graduation he completed his studies attending international courses at South Bank University London, Université Léonard de Vinci in Paris and Franco-British joint Master of Arts, also achieving a Master in Political Science-European Public Policy (III Level). From October 2002 to October 2003, he was a member of the delegation in Brussels of Union of the Chamber of Commerce of the Veneto Region liaising with EU institutions. From October 2003 to May 2008, he worked as Chief of Secretariat for Friuli Venezia Giulia Autonomous Region - Territorial Planning Department, Energy, Mobility and Transport Infrastructures. From May 2008 to April 2014, he worked as Project manager - Head of Transport and Regional Co-operation Unit- Central European Initiative (CEI), Executive Secretariat for EU projects. He acted as Director of international relations and strategic infrastructures for the Presidency of the Autonomous Region Friuli Venezia Giulia and he deals with the coordination and management of infrastructure plans and programmes for the Friuli Venezia Giulia region (from 2014 to 2018), and he was also responsible for the international relations of the Region. Until September 2019, he’s also been appointed as Director of EGTC “Euregio senza Confini” a public body participated by and Austrian and Italian regions aimed at strengthening the cross-border co-operation. From 2018 he works as Programme Manager of joint CEI-RAFVG Regional fund promoting initiatives on Green transition and social-economic cohesion.

Ms. Jadranka Mihaljevic is a Head of the Department of Engineering Seismology at the Institute of Hydrometeorology and Seismology of Montenegro. With a Master's degree in earthquake engineering, her professional career focuses on seismic hazard assessment and risk reduction. Jadranka contributed to the development of the DRR Strategy and DRR Action Plan of Montenegro, NRA of Montenegro, Physical Plan of Montenegro, a number of local and the National Earthquake Protection and Rescue plans. She is member of National DRR Committee and member of the Technical Committee for Euro codes at the Institute for Standardization of Montenegro. As NATO SPS Programme project co-director she was involved in regional seismic hazard harmonization projects. Also, she takes an active role in the projects funded by the European Commission (Disaster Risk Assessment and Mapping – IPA DRAM, Large Scale Earthquake Management at Western Balkans through Joint Cross Border Cooperation Activities - UCPM project BALANCE, etc.). Since its establishment in 2018 till 2022, as invited national expert, she was a member of an ESTAG group (European Science & Technology Advisory Group, UNDRR) whose primary goal is providing scientific and technical support to the European and Central Asian countries for the implementation of the Sendai Framework.

Professor Mikoš graduated at Faculty of Civil and Geodetic Engineering, University of Ljubljana (UL FGG) in 1983 in civil engineering (major in hydraulic engineering), and got his Doctorate in Technical Sciences at ETH Zürich in 1993. He holds professorships in Hydrology and in Hydraulic Engineering, and works as Certified Civil Engineer. From 2009 till 2012 he served as the Dean of UL FGG. Today he serves as a Member of the University of Ljubljana Management Board. His expertise goes from sediment transport, torrent hydraulics, mass movements and soil erosion to flood risk management and natural hazard mitigation, including landslide disaster risk reduction. He is active in the research society INTERPRAEVENT, Klagenfurt, Austria. From 2014 till 2019 he was appointed Chairman of the Slovenian National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction. Since 2016, he is Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair on Water-related Disaster Risk Reduction, and since 2019 he is Chairman of the Slovenian National Committee for the Intergovernmental Hydrological Programme. He served two three-year terms as the Vice President of the International Consortium on Landslides, Kyoto, Japan, and since 2022, he is Chairman of the Global Promotion Committee of the International Programme on Landslides (IPL) and Kyoto 2020 Commitment for Landslide Disaster Risk Reduction.

Ferenc Miszlivetz is the founder and director of the Institute of Advanced Studies Kőszeg (iASK), a Jean Monnet professor and full professor at the University of Pannonia. He is a scientific advisor at the Centre for Social Sciences, Institute for Political Science, at the Hungarian Academy of Sciences. He elaborated the project on creative cities and sustainable regions embedded in the KRAFT Centre at iASK. His research interests include democracy, civil society, Central-European and European Studies, globalization and sustainability. He has taught and conducted research at various universities in Europe and the United States, including recently at the University of Bologna, and Columbia University in New York. Since 2012 he has served as the president of the Social Sciences unit of the Hungarian UNESCO Committee and holds a UNESCO Chair in Cultural Heritage and Sustainability in Kőszeg. He has received numerous awards, including the Knight’s Cross of the Hungarian Republic (2005) and the Cross of the Hungarian Order of Civic Merit (2021). His major works include Illusions and Realities: The Metamorphosis of Civil Society in a New European Space; Central Europe ante Portas; The European Construction; and Reframing Europe’s Future: Challenges and Failures of the European Construction.

Aldo Primiero, environmental engineer, 50 years old, I work in the civil protection office of Friuli Venezia Giulia Region since 2001, dealing with monitoring network management, emergency planning, prevention and emergency response activities. Since August 2017 I have held the role of Organizational Position Manager for the "Management of the alert system through the CFD", the regional decentralized functional center that deals with the assessment of hydrogeological and hydraulic criticalities for the issuance of alerts for the territory of Friuli Venezia Giulia, as well as emergency planning at the regional level and in support of local authorities. I’m also responsible of EU projects.

Education: Faculty of Law – Justiciary Major Ss. Cyril and Methodius in Skopje (graduated as the first student of her generation); Post-graduate studies in International Law at the Faculty of Law, University of Belgrade; Post-graduate studies in International Law and International Politics at the Faculty of Law – Iustinianus Primus in Skopje; Defended master thesis entitled “Analysis of Reasons, Procedures for Establishment and Operation of the International Criminal Court for Former Yugoslavia” – mentor – Prof. Dr. Denko Malevski. Doctoral dissertation at the Faculty of Law in Skopje entitled: “Establishment of the International Criminal Court and its Importance for Smaller Countries”, Mentor – Prof. Dr. Ljubomir Frchkovski. Professional experience: (1990 – 1992) Attorney at Law office “Evto Spirovski”, Skopje; (1992 – 1994) Enterprise for Consulting Services “Medula”; (1994 till now) Ss. Cyril and Methodius University, Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology (IZIIS) – Head of the Administration and Services Department Stays at foreign universities: Bochum (Germany), Bristol and Bath (UK), Trieste (Italy), Zagreb (Croatia), Graz (Austria), Stanford and Berkeley (USA), Belgrade and Nish (Serbia), etc. 2015 – 2018 – expert in the Council for Public Procurements of the Republic of North Macedonia. Since 2004, as Secretary General of UKIM -IZIIS in Skopje, I have participated in many commissions at the level of UKIM, Ministry of Education and Science or at the Government of RM regarding elaboration of regulations, by-laws and alike. I also note that I have a huge experience as an expert in the working tasks that you require since I am dealing with similar matters at the institution in which I work. Analysis of legal and bylaw acts and their harmonization and implementation are my daily activities. I cooperate with a large number of representatives of governmental public enterprises, ministries, municipalities and other institutions in the country on a daily basis. I consider that I have sufficient experience, knowledge, time and wish to be actively included in this project. I would like to particularly note that, during my studies, I was a youth activist and performed the following functions: member of the Yugoslav Youth Council, member of the Republic Council of the Macedonian Youths, a great number of functions in the city organization of youths of Skopje, a great number of functions in the Scout Organization, etc.

Prof. dr hab. inz. SZPYTKO Janusz (Full Prof., D.Sc., Ph.D., M.Sc., B.Sc., C.Eng., Eur. Pad. Ing.), AGH University of Science and Technology (pl. Akademia Górniczo - Hutnicza), Mickiewicza Ave. 30, PL 30-059 Krakow, Poland. Full Professor, educator, researcher, manager in education and research. Type of business or sector: university, R&D and education, mechanical engineering, safety and reliability, automation and metrology, transportation and logistics, automation and robotics, manufacturing, quality and control, sensing and diagnostics/ decision making, mechatronics. Speciality in Science and Technology: transport systems and devices, safety and reliability, automation and robotics, engineering logistics. Industrial replacements and training in: Poland, Sweden, Germany; professional training and visiting professor: UK, Italy, France, Greece, Germany, Norway, Laos. Interests: Safety and Reliability (Resilience), Systems Engineering, Maintenance and e-Maintenance, Automation and Robotics, Decision-Making Systems, Cyber-Physical Systems, Digital Twin, Enterprise and Transport Interoperability, Intelligent Transport and Control, Monitoring and Diagnostics, Ontology for Enterprise Systems Interoperability, Telematics, Transport Systems and Devices. Author or co-author of more then 400 publications in science and education, promoter more then 100 students on B.Sc., M.Sc., Ph.D. levels. Co-coordinator and member of several R&D projects both on national and internationals level. Member of management boards of various national and international professional organisations. Organisator and member of several professional scientific and programme committees of international and national conferences and symposiums, member of editorial boards projects and both more than few hundred scientific papers and project reviewer, editor of scientific journals; biographical are published also in: Who is who in America, Who is who in Engineering. UNESCO AGH Chairholder from 2010 (www.unesco.agh.edu.pl).

Veronica Tofani is Associate Professor of Engineering Geology at the Department of Earth Sciences of the University of Firenze and Program Coordinator of the UNESCO Chair on Prevention and Sustainable Management of Geo-hydrological Hazards of the University of Florence. She graduated in 2003 in Earth Sciences, and she took the PhD in Engineering Geology from the Faculty of Sciences, University of Florence, in 2007. Her research mainly concerns geohydrological hazard and risk assessment, regional landslide forecasting models, landslide monitoring, early warning and the use of remote sensing data for ground instabilities mapping. In the framework of the activity of the UNESCO chair she is also carrying out activities to promote the development of innovative technologies for the prevention and mitigation of geo-hydrological hazards affecting cultural heritage sites. She is vice president of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) and she is involved in other international consortia such ICGdR (International Consortium of Geo-disaster Reduction) and GADRI (Global Alliance on Disaster Risk Reduction). She is secretary general of the 6th World Landslide Forum that will be held in Florence in November 2023. She is author of more than 70 papers on international journals in the field of ground instabilities, hazard and risk assessment.

Radu Văcăreanu graduated Civil Engineering in 1991 from the Technical University of Iasi, Romania. He got his Ph.D. from the Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest (UTCB) in 1999 in the field of seismic risk assessment. Currently, he is Professor of Structural Reliability and Seismic Risk Analysis at UTCB. Radu Văcăreanu is Vice-President of the European Association for Earthquake Engineering (EAEE), National Delegate of Romania at the International Association for Earthquake Engineering (IAEE) and Executive President of the National Commission for Earthquake Engineering of Ministry of Development, Public Works and Administration of Romania. In between 2002 and 2008 he served as the director of the National Centre for Seismic Risk Reduction, implementing the JICA (Japan Technical Cooperation Agency) Project on Seismic Risk Reduction for Buildings and Structures in Romania. Radu Văcăreanu participated in international projects and coordinated national projects aiming at seismic risk reduction. He published numerous papers in peer-reviewed journals and international conferences proceedings. His research interest covers mainly the seismic hazard, fragility and risk analyses. Since March 2016 he is Rector of the Technical University of Civil Engineering of Bucharest.

Professor Dr. Dimiter Velev is with the Department of Informatics at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE), Sofia, Bulgaria, https://www.unwe.bg/en/. Dimiter Velev is the Director of the Science Research Center for Disaster Risk Reduction at UNWE. He holds a M.Sc. degree in Electro-Engineering from the Sofia Technical University, Bulgaria and a Ph.D. degree in Computer systems, Complexes, Systems and Networks from the Pukhov Institute for Modelling in Energy Engineering at the National Academy of Sciences of Ukraine. Prof. Velev is a member of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP), http://ifip.org/, in which he is the Chair of Technical Committee 5 (TC5) – Information Technology Applications. Prof. Velev is also the chair of the IFIP Domain Committee on Quantum Computing. Prof. Velev’s main areas of academic and R&D interest are Information Technology, Integrated Information Systems for Disaster Management, Artificial Intelligence, Cybersecurity, Virtaul Reality, Quantum Computing. He is a regular chair and a keynote speaker of conferences in Asia and Europe and a reviewer of many scientific publications in journals and conferences. He has published more than 220 ICT-related papers.

Chiara Scaini is a researcher at OGS (National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics) where she contributes to the development of a near real-time seismic damage estimates in collaboration with the local Civil Protection agency. She achieved her PhD in Environmental Engineering at the Polytechnic University of Barcelona, working on volcanic risk and its impacts on human activities. In particular, she developed volcanic hazard and impact assessment for selected volcanoes in Europe (Italy, Iceland) and Central America (Mexico, Nicaragua). She is currently involved in a World-Bank project focused on multi-risk assessment in Central Asia as Task leader for the regional-scale exposure assessment. She contributed to the capacity building activities by co-organizing and directing 5 national-scale workshops which involved more than 200 scientists, practitioners and policymakers. A common point in her previous and current activity is the need for collecting different data for risk management purposes and providing support to emergency managers and policymakers.

Dr Zvonko Sigmund is an Assistant Professor at the University of Zagreb Faculty of Civil Engineering. At the University of Zagreb Faculty of Civil Engineering. He specialises in seismic disaster risk reduction, investment planning and built heritage protection. His research set the basis for the quick seismic risk assessment implemented in the seismic risk assessment of the City of Zagreb. Zvonko was also involved in the National Risk Assessment (for earthquakes) and is a part of the Croatian Civil Protection MUSAR team. His research interests are Seismic Safety of the Built Environment, Public Policy, Built Heritage Protection, Feasibility and Sustainability in DRR Preventive Measures. For the last 5 years, he has been the representative of the Republic of Croatia at the European Science Technology Advisory Group (E-STAG), a group of DRR experts organised at the UNDRR.

Prof. Stefano Grimaz is the Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair on Intersectoral Safety for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience at the University of Udine (Italy). Director of Safety and Protection Intersectoral Laboratory (SPRINT-Lab) at the Polytechnic Department of Engineering and Architecture of University of Udine where he is Professor of Engineering Seismology and of Safety and Civil Protection at the Master Degree Courses of Engineering and Safety management and Resilience at the Master Degree courses of Law. He carries out research on risk assessment, safety and emergency management with a holistic and intersectoral approach for developing multi-hazard safety assessment and decision-making support tools. He is scientific consultant of national and international institutions and organizations working in the fields of safety, emergency management and resilience. For his activities, he was awarded with the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (4th Class Officer). He is author of more than 150 papers in the field of industrial, civil and territorial safety and risk prevention.

Dr. Petra Malisan is the Program Coordinator of the UNESCO Chair on Intersectoral Safety for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience, SPRINT-Lab, University of Udine (Italy). She achieved her master’s degree in Civil Engineering and a PhD in Environmental and Energy Engineering Science at University of Udine. Her activities focus mainly on the definition and application of methods for safety and risk analyses. She has worked alongside the institutions of the National System of Civil Protection (National Fire Corps and Civil Protection of Friuli Venezia Giulia), providing scientific support as well as developing methodologies for the analysis and evaluation of emergency scenarios, with particular attention to safety management. She contributed to the development of the Visual Inspections for the definition of Safety Upgrading Strategies (VISUS) methodology for making technical triage of learning facilities with a multi-hazard prospective and defining decision-making support tools, and she manages the implementation of VISUS in international projects working in strict collaboration with UNESCO and various UN agencies.

Dr. Torres is an international senior consultant on disaster risk reduction, resilience, sustainability and adaptation. He worked at the International Hydrological Programme, the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission, and the Unit for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience, all at UNESCO; notably on the international activities related to the scientific, educational and policy aspects of natural hazards leading to disaster. He has been involved in activities concerning school safety, early warning systems, and promotion of scientific cooperation and capacity building for disaster risk reduction. Among others, he was responsible for the International Platform for Earthquake Early Warning Systems, the design and implementation of the VISUS Methodology for Assessing School Facilities and the UNESCO Programme for Measuring Resilience. He played an active role in the design and implementation of the International Platform for Reducing Earthquake Disasters, the programme for Reducing Earthquake Losses and the International Network for Multi-hazard Early Warning Systems. Dr. Torres played an important role in the consolidation of the Thematic Platform for Knowledge in the Education Sector that would later become the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (GADRRRES), for which he was the coordinator from 2013 to 2015, and from 2017 to 2019 he chaired it. Similarly, he has been a recognized expert on the implementation of the Comprehensive School Safety Framework, as well as, on the design and launch of the Worldwide Initiative for Safe Schools, and some regional Initiatives on the same subject. Dr. Torres is the Editor-in-Chief of the Special Issue on School Safety of the International Scientific Journal for Disaster Risk Reduction. Dr. Torres holds a PhD on Risk and Emergency Management at the Understanding and Managing Extremes Graduate School of the University School for Advanced Studies IUSS in Pavia, Italy. He acquired his master’s degree on Development Studies at the University of Paris III, Sorbonne Nouvelle and his bachelor diploma in Finances and International Relations at the Externado University of Colombia.

Ms. Anglès has been working as the Coordinator for the Global Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience in the Education Sector (GADRRRES) since May 2018. She has been coordinating the network first under the Chair of UNESCO and then under the Chair of UNICEF. Lucille Anglès has a Master in Physical Geography with a specialization in risk management and especially, flood risk (University Paris VII, Paris, France) as well as a Master in Sustainable Urbanism to better consider natural risks within our cities (UCL, London, UK). She worked as an Officer in an Emergency Management unit of a French Government Administration and did an internship at UNESCO in the DRR and Resilience Unit before working as the Coordinator for GADRRRES. GADRRRES is a multi-stakeholder mechanism composed of UN agencies, international organizations, and global networks. Representatives from regional networks are also affiliated members to the Alliance. The main purposes of GADRRRES are to strengthen global coordination, increase knowledge, and advocate on risk reduction education and safety in the education sector.

Prof. Nicola Casagli Professor of Engineering Geology at the University of Florence, Department of Earth Sciences. President of the National Institute of Oceanography and Applied Geophysics. President of the Civil Protection Centre of University of Florence. President of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL). Degree in Geology, MSc in Engineering Rock Mechanics at Imperial College of London and PhD in Engineering Geology. Expert of geological hazards and ground instability, monitoring technology, remote sensing, engineering geological characterization and modeling. Member of the Major Risks National Committee of the Department of Civil Protection of the Italian Government. Member of the World Centre of Excellence on Landslide Risk Reduction of the International Programme on Landslides. Founder and Deputy Chairholder of the UNESCO Chair on Prevention and Sustainable Mitigation of Geo-hydrological Hazards. Adjunct Professor of the UNESCO Chair on Geoenvironmental Disaster Reduction at Shimane University (Japan). Member and former vice president of the International Consortium on Geo-disaster Reduction (ICGdR). Former head of the Department of Earth Sciences and past member of the Academic Senate of the University of Florence. Awarded with the Order of Merit of the Italian Republic (4th Class Officer). Author of more than 500 scientific publications and holder of 4 industrial patents.

Prof. Dr. Plamena Zlateva Associate professor Dr. Plamena Zlateva is with the Department of Informatics at the University of National and World Economy (UNWE), Sofia, Bulgaria (https://www.unwe.bg/en/). Zlateva is the leading researcher at the Science Research Center for Disaster Risk Reduction at UNWE. She hods M.Sc. degrees in Biotechnology and Applied Mathematics from the Sofia Technical University, and also in Economics from the Sofia University St. Kl. Ohridski, and Ph.D. degree in Manufacturing Automation from the Institute of Conrol and System Research, Bulgarian Academy of Sciences (BAS). Assoc. prof. Zlateva is a member of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP, http://ifip.org/) as the Bulgarian National Representative to IFIP TC9 “ICT and Society”. Her main areas of academic and research interest are Information Technology, Integrated Information Systems for Disaster Risk Reduction, Artificial Intelligence, Mathematical Modeling and System Identification, Risk Assessment and Management.