The methodology of modern safety science can be applied regardless of the type and origin of the event (natural or anthropogenic disasters) and thus provides the basis for further decision-making systems and assessments. It is divided into three areas: risk analysis, risk assessment, and risk management. Risk is addressed systematically, taking into account safety-related, scientific, and socio-political requirements. When traditional hazard analysis is combined with the aforementioned exposure and impact analyses, the need for new techniques for defining and estimating future events becomes apparent.
PROJECT GOALS:
- MONITOR's goal is to leverage the synergies of existing knowledge and communication resources and to integrate various national and organization-specific activities through collaboration. Interdisciplinary hazard management is not an end in itself, but rather serves the actions (planning, process management, response) of the involved stakeholders.
- MONITOR will propose methodological innovations in risk analysis and focus on improving risk management and developing guidelines for risk communication. Furthermore, communication in disaster prevention and disaster relief will be improved.
- MONITOR will support and make more transparent the entire process of risk assessment and, in particular, risk communication, leading to transnationally comparable standards in these areas.
TEST AREA GESÄUSE NATIONAL PARK:
The Gesäuse National Park is characterized by its geological and geomorphological structure. The extreme relief energy is particularly noteworthy. Within a very small area, the terrain rises from riparian forests along the Enns River to rocky and scree-covered slopes on the limestone cliffs. Rock and snow avalanches follow the opposite path. Their frequency is further increased by heavy snowfall in winter and frequent heavy rainfall in summer.
The Gesäuse National Park is therefore an ideal area for studying extreme events related to torrents and rivers, as well as storms and avalanches. It is characterized by the frequent occurrence of highly dynamic natural processes. This results in a high level of biodiversity, and preserving this biodiversity is one of the most pressing tasks of the national park administration. At the same time, the protection of infrastructure must, of course, continue to be guaranteed. This tension between allowing as much natural dynamics as possible and providing optimal protection for people and infrastructure is what makes the management of natural areas in the Gesäuse National Park so unique.
MONITOR - Novo Mesto meets Styria
National Park Experience for the Slovenian Partner School Novo Mesto:
Novo Mesto is a town of approximately 22,370 inhabitants in southeastern Slovenia, not far from the Croatian border. The mountainous landscape of the Gesäuse National Park was therefore a unique experience for the 40 Slovenian pupils, students, and teachers from the partner school. The guests from the south got their first impression through a 3D flight over the national park. Afterwards, they continued to the Kölblalm alpine pasture, where alpine farming in the national park was explained. The focus of the excursion was on the two current EU projects in the national park, which were presented on site.
The EU project MONITOR (Hazard Monitoring for Risk Assessment and Risk Communication) is managed by the Acquisition Unit of the HBLFA Raumberg-Gumpenstein agricultural college. The Gesäuse National Park was chosen as a test area, not least because of its diversity. On-site, and in cooperation with the Ennstal and Salzatal Torrent and Avalanche Control Service, the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB), and the National Park Administration, permanent monitoring areas are being evaluated to analyze hazard processes. These areas include not only avalanche paths but also land use areas, particularly alpine pastures, nature reserves, and infrastructure. The balancing act between maximum protection against natural hazards and the preservation of the natural landscape is to be successfully resolved jointly, with the involvement of all affected parties and stakeholders.
The Ennstal and Salzatal Torrent and Avalanche Control Service presented the EU LIFE project. This project focuses on the construction of ecological protection measures along the access road to the Johnsbach Valley, which is severely threatened by mudslides. Through restoration work at the confluence of the Johnsbach and the Enns River, fish passage will no longer be an obstacle for weak-swimming juvenile fish and bullheads. An opened side channel now also provides unobstructed passage for the torrent.
After the presentation of both EU projects, the group proceeded to the willow dome of the National Park. The excursion concluded with a short walk through the abbey garden in Admont and a brief visit to the abbey library.
The excursion was very successful – the students from our partner school gained many interesting impressions and information that day.
MONITOR|08: Monitoring Methods - Systems behind a safer environment
Representatives from science, practice, and politics, the Federal Ministry of Agriculture, Forestry, Environment and Water Management, the Styrian and Carinthian state governments, the Liezen district construction authority, the municipalities of the Enns Valley, the Bulgarian Ministry of Forestry, the Czech province of South Moravia, the provinces of Bolzano and Veneto in Italy, representatives from Slovenia, Greece, and Switzerland presented, discussed, and observed monitoring methods for risks to vulnerable settlement areas, land use areas, and infrastructure.
Companies presented monitoring instruments (hardware and software) on-site, and posters from project partners illustrated monitoring methods for various risk types, the interdisciplinary application of monitoring at the transnational level, and the combination of innovative methods and the use of corresponding instruments (disaster relief measures, early warning systems, and simulation models).
In the evening, conference participants were treated to culinary delights from the Enns Valley and music by the "Altsteirische Streichmusik Irdning" (Old Styrian String Ensemble Irdning).
Excursion: MONITOR Test Areas
The first focus of the excursion was a visit to the "Multereck" avalanche radar on the Grimming mountain – a warning system for the protection of the B 145 state highway, an important connecting road between Styria, Upper Austria, and Salzburg. The excursion participants gained insight into the Multereck avalanche problem, and the responsible authorities explained the function of the avalanche radar.
A special train operated by the Austrian Federal Railways (ÖBB) then traveled from Bad Aussee to Obertraun, where the ÖBB presented the at-risk sections of the railway line and the avalanche warning posts. From the train, the conference participants were able to observe an avalanche that descended from the rock faces of the Koppen Valley.
The international conference concluded with a gondola ride to the Krippenstein mountain. Here, the head of the Upper Austrian Water Management Association (WLV) presented the Koppen regional study and key areas for natural hazard protection in the region.
The results of the international conference were summarized in a publication (Monitoring Methods - Systems behind a safer environment).
Through the EU project MONITOR, practical experience in natural hazards through hazard monitoring for risk assessment and risk communication could not only be exchanged within the partner countries, but methods and instruments could also be presented as best-practice examples, which are of essential importance for the future at EU level and in the international arena for the protection of land use areas, settlement areas and infrastructure.
