On June 19th, the Eucentre Foundation had the privilege of hosting a delegation from the AHA Centre –ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on disaster management, as part of a project developed with the support of CI3R.
The objectives of the visit
The meeting strengthened international cooperation on civil protection, emergency management training and advanced technologies for risk detection. In line with the initiatives of the “EU Support to AHA Centre”, the training needs of South-East Asia were also discussed.
The event programme
The event programme began with institutional greetings and a guided tour of the Foundation’s laboratories, accompanied by President Rui Pinho, who highlighted the main experimental activities conducted in the fields of applied seismology, structural modelling, and the seismic response of materials.
The visit continued with a convivial networking lunch, which encouraged informal exchanges between representatives of the AHA Centre delegation, Eucentre experts and European guests.
In the afternoon, a technical session was held, divided into several thematic presentations. Fabio Germagnoli opened the proceedings with an institutional presentation on Eucentre’s mission, structure and multidisciplinary approach to seismic risk reduction. Barbara Borzi then illustrated the technological platforms developed by the centre for risk assessment and decision support. Marta Faravelli presented the main activities and results of the IPA CARE project, with a particular focus on operational tools for countries in the process of joining the European Union.
Chiara Casarotti showcased some of the advanced solutions developed by Eucentre for detecting and analysing post-event structural damage (IDEA). At the same time, Giulia Fagà examined the role of training and capacity-building activities promoted by the Foundation at both national and international levels. Marco Pagani of the GEM Foundation illustrated the contribution of global scientific cooperation to the understanding and mitigation of seismic risk.
The closing remarks by representatives of the Joint Research Centre (Tom De Groeve) and DG ECHO (Camilla Tosi) outlined the European strategic guidelines for civil protection.
The visit confirmed the importance of technical and institutional dialogue between Europe and ASEAN, promoting new synergies between civil protection systems, the development of educational platforms and advanced tools for seismic risk mitigation.
Useful Links:
- AHA Centre – ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance
- IPA CARE Project
- Fondazione GEM – Global Earthquake Model
- CI3R – Centro Italiano per la Ricerca sulla Riduzione del Rischio
- JRC – Joint Research Centre (European Commission)
- DG ECHO – Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations