Strong Institutions for NaTech Resilient Infrastructures

KIT in collaboration with partner institutions in Georgia and Armenia

 

 

NaTech-Risk in the South Caucasus

NaTech: Natural Hazard-triggered Technological Accidents

  • Natural hazards such as earthquakes, floods, and storms can cause severe NaTech accidents → posing risks to industrial facilities and critical infrastructure 
  • Climate change and increasing vulnerability are raising the frequency and intensity of such events

Knowledge Gaps

  • Regional hazards, technical safety, and systemic risk analyses are insufficiently understood 
  • Interdisciplinary research is necessary to analyze and reduce the risks of NaTech accidents

Project Objective

  • Promote North–South and South–South exchange to jointly build knowledge, methods and capacities 
  • Strengthen the ability to assess and enhance the resilience of critical infrastructure against cascading risks

Focus

  • Assessing the resilience of hydropower plants, dams, retention basins, bridges, etc. through integrated risk management for natural and technological hazards
  • Key question:
    → How can the resilience of critical infrastructure such as dams and hydropower plants be strengthened?

 

Implementation and Collaboration

Objectives

  • Close existing knowledge gaps in hazard assessment, safety, and risk evaluation
  • Build interdisciplinary competencies
  • Enable mutual knowledge transfer between research and practice

Methods

  • Lecture series and practice-oriented courses 
  • Research labs and academic theses (Bachelor’s/Master’s/PhD ) 
  • Virtual platform and workshops

Partners

  • KIT (Germany)
  • GTU (Georgia)
  • TSU (Georgia)
  • IGS (Armenia)
  • MIAEC (Armenia)
  • Industry and public authorities

 

Innovation and Impact

What is new or unique?

  • NaTech as an interface between natural hazards, technology, environment, society, and governance
  • Strong regional focus on the South Caucasus using real-world case studies
  • Research-led teaching: results from research labs and theses are directly integrated into the lecture series

Expected Outcomes

  • NaTech lecture series, digital materials, and a NaTech virtual platform
  • Research labs, Bachelor’s/Master’s and Doctoral  theses, and a foundation for joint research proposals
  • Highly qualified experts for academia, administration, risk governance, and practical application

Sustainability

  • Virtual platform and curriculum integration ensure long-term use beyond the project duration
  • Promotion of scientific South–South collaboration
  • The SINRI project as part of a long-term research partnership