Preparatory Virtual Workshop

ICONHIC is committed to continuously deliver top-notch content on Natural Disasters and Infrastructure, bringing all contributors of the Natural Hazard Risk Management community under the same roof. Despite the ongoing distress and disruption caused by the Covid-19 pandemic, the increased frequency and intensity of unceasing natural hazards require vigilance and cooperative action. In view of that, and following the request by several of our participants, the ICONHIC Organizing Committee has decided to host a Small Scale Online Preparatory Event this summer, paving the way for the core ICONHIC2022 event.

The Online Preparatory Workshop is aimed to warm up the conference audience prior to the in-person event in 2022 and connect academics, industry experts, and professionals during turbulent times and traveling uncertainty caused by the pandemic. The preparatory workshop will be delivered in the form of a 100% 2-day virtual event, featuring a limited series of Special Sessions and Introductory Keynote Talks. We believe that a virtual workshop is the right way to kick-start the discussion and help organize a more inclusive and engaging event in 2022.

KEYNOTE LECTURE

The 2021 Report Card for America’s Infrastructure

Every four years, the American Society of Civil Engineers provides a comprehensive assessment of the nation’s 17 major infrastructure categories in ASCE’s Infrastructure Report Card. Using a simple A to F school report card format, the Report Card examines current infrastructure conditions and needs, assigning grades and making recommendations to raise them. Join this plenary session to hear from ASCE President Jean-Louis Briaud, Ph.D., PE, D.GE, DIST. M. ASCE, about key findings in this year’s report and the solutions to raise the grades.

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KEYNOTE LECTURE

The interplay of multiple hazards and urban development: the context of Istanbul

Tomorrow’s Cities is the UK Research and Innovation (UKRI) Global Challenges Research Fund (GCRF). Urban Disaster Risk Hub is an interdisciplinary research hub with the aim to catalyse a transition from crisis management to multi-hazard risk-informed and inclusive planning in four cities in low-and-middle income countries. Istanbul in Turkey is one of the four cities investigated. As a result of unplanned urban expansion and illegal construction processes in the 80s and 90s in the city, two major earthquakes in 1999 resulted in 18.000 deaths and $16 billion economic loss, changing the authorities’ perspective to hazard risk and mitigation forever. Despite the past 20-year-long research endeavours, Istanbul’s earthquake risk remains high, while recent urban developments to the west are exposed to new hazards, namely flash flooding, and landslides. Given the particularly high risk of such hazards on areas characterized by poor infrastructural resilience and social vulnerabilities, it is crucial to integrate different types of hazards and risks into the urban development context for future scenarios, so that a physically and socio-economically safer development that prioritizes the wellbeing of local communities can be facilitated. This presentation summarises the research conducted in Istanbul over the first 18 months of the Tomorrow’s Cities Project by a consortium of Turkish and UK researchers, spanning the better characterisation of earthquake and landslide hazards, development of analysis methods for predicting the response of case study buildings to multiple hazards and a Bayesian network-based approach for assessing road infrastructure resilience under multiple hazard scenarios.

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KEYNOTE LECTURE

NASA Making Space for Risk Reduction

Earth observations through remote sensing from space reveals much about our changing planet including the nature of natural hazards and the vulnerability and exposure of our infrastructure.  Monitoring over time and at scales from global to local provide the data for situational awareness to access risk and develop resilience. This presentation will provide a NASA Disasters Program perspective on access to earth observation enable and the use and utility of data to modeling earth systems enables science-informed choices, supports decisions, and guides early action. Perils happen, disasters are not natural, and making space for risk reduction means open science and accessible data will help answer what happens next. Making space for risk reduction can increase the tools available to avoid infrastructure damage and losses, minimize disruptions to lives and lifelines, protect our livelihoods and economies.

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