Inauguration of the New UNESCO Chair at the University of Florence

With an inaugural conference, the chair established by UNESCO at the University of Florence, dedicated to the prevention and sustainable management of hydrogeological risk, has officially been opened. (Thursday 27 October, 9.30 am – Auditorium of Sant’Apollonia, via San Gallo, 25 / a).

This is the first chair of applied research that Italy offers in the UNESCO in this field, and it was recently established at the University of Florence, through the initiative by the Department of Earth Sciences and the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
The chair – established to promote the exchange and circulation of knowledge between the academic world and civil society – addresses issues of global interest in which the University is a structure of excellence at the international level.

Indeed, the University of Florence has long been engaged in research, development, and cooperation for the prevention and reduction of hydrogeological risk, also aimed at the conservation of the UNESCO World Heritage List.
For these activities, the University has obtained significant awards, such as the designation of the Center of competence of the National Civil Protection (2005). It also holds the title of World Centre of Excellence of the International Program for the Landslides of the UN-ISDR (the United Nations Office) for the reduction of risk of natural disasters, since 2008.

The project partners include the main national institutional subjects with expertise on the topic – Department of Civil Protection, ISPRA and ItalySecure mission structure of the Council of Ministers, several international non-governmental organisations, scientific consortia, and other UNESCO professorships and networks.

Paolo Canuti is a Professor of Applied Geology at the University of Florence and has held the position of President of the International Consortium on the Landslides. He has also founded the research group, currently coordinated by Nicola Casagli, at the Department of Earth Science. Among the UniFi teachers involved in the UNESCO professorship project – which may also represent an opportunity to promote the country system – are also Sandro Moretti and Carlo Alberto Garzonio of the Department of Earth Sciences, and Giorgio Federici, Enio Paris, and Fabio Castelli of the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.

The following attendees gave speech:
Blanca Elena Jiménez-Cisneros, Director of the Unesco Division in Water Sciences, Luigi Dei, Samuele Segoni, Federica Fratoni, Alessia Bettini, Francesca Paolieri, Pietro Rubellini, Bernardo De Bernardinis, Paolo Canuti, Nicola Casagli, Fabio Castelli, Fabrizio Curcio, Carlo Francini , Vittorio Gasparrini, Mauro Grassi, Claudio Margottini, Philippe Pypaert, Lucio Ubertini, Enrico Vicenti, Fawu Wang. (The sessions of Ignazio Becchi, Elvezio Galanti, Paolo Orefice will change.)

Source (in Italian): http://www.unifi.it/art-2181-al-via-la-cattedra-unesco.html

The chair’s webpage: http://unesco-geohazards.unifi.it/events-page/inaugural-meeting-unesco-chair/

http://unesco-geohazards.unifi.it/wp-content/uploads/2015/07/2016.10.27-UNESCO-Inaugural-meeting.pdf