The focus of the project is on the reduction of risks due to landslides and the development of tools and methodologies for the improvement of land management through the mapping and modelling of risks.

Project activities include the study of two representative landslides located in Romania. By means of this study, the local authorities will acquire new knowledge and tools which will improve their planning and emergency management abilities through a new system which ensures communication and the sharing of information among interested parties.

From an operational point of view, the project involves the design and installation of two automatic monitoring systems connected to two monitoring centres and capable of predicting the occurrence of landslides beforehand.

All of the analyses, procedures and methodologies studied and realised in the course of this project will be included in a "Manual for the Monitoring and Management of Landslides," which will set the standard procedures for the replication of the study in other areas of Romania. The purpose of the Manual is to bring a considerable reduction of landslide risk to the whole country within the next few years.

The project – financed by the World Bank and directed by Massimiliano Cannata, researcher at the Institute of Earth Sciences in the Department of Environment, Construction and Design – is carried out in collaboration with Tele Rilevamento Europa (T.R.E.), DRM World Institute for Disaster Risk Management, Virginia Tech University, Lombardi SA Engineering Limited, Swiss Federal Institute of Technology Zurich, and University of Bucharest-Faculty of Geology and Geophysics.

Director: Massimiliano Cannata
Department: Department of Environment, Construction and Design
Research Unit: Institute of Earth Sciences
Duration of the Project: 2008-2010
Funding Organisation: World Bank