Sustainability and Resilience: Challenges and Opportunities in Seismic Risk Prevention, Mitigation and Adaptation
A special issue of Sustainability (ISSN 2071-1050). This special issue belongs to the section "Hazards and Sustainability".
Deadline for manuscript submissions: closed (28 February 2023) | Viewed by 13971
Special Issue Editors
Interests: critical infrastructure protection; complexity science; risk analysis; electrical network; decision support system; GIS; optimization, simulation models
Interests: geomatics applications; land planning; spatial analysis; risk analysis; multi-risk assessment; GIS-based; decision support systems (DSS)
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: models for assessing and monitoring the resilience of the built environment to natural hazards and climate change; models for assessing the vulnerability of buildings, distributed infrastructure, historic areas and cultural heritage to natural hazards and extreme events
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Interests: dynamic experimental analysis of structures; structural identification; development and application of modern anti-seismic technologies; suspended bridges; cable-stayed bridges; masonry arch bridges; seismic protection of structures of historical and artistic interest
Special Issues, Collections and Topics in MDPI journals
Special Issue Information
Dear Colleagues,
The challenge of humanity against the forces of nature is a longstanding issue. A remarkable research activity has been carried out towards the analysis and the prevention of seismic risk. However, nowadays complex and highly organised societies, where human, social political and environmental dimensions are strongly interconnected and constantly evolving, pose new fascinating challenges for research and development. The target in seismic risk prevention is no longer focussing only on safeguarding human life, but also in guaranteeing undamaged or low-damaged infrastructures and buildings, to preserve their contents and service functionality, and in empowering communities to become resilient by promoting their awareness and capacities. This in the aim of continuing living and working in the aftermath of a severe seismic event, and guaranteeing a resilient recovery after a catastrophic event by resuming timely pre-disaster conditions and/or by promoting an improved new-normal, where changes imposed by the disaster are turned into opportunities for positive changes. All these aims must be pursued in a sustainable way, i.e. trying to meet current needs without compromising future generations, taking out mortgages that they would not be able to pay off. In this perspective, just to provide some examples: sustainable urban planning for risk mitigation should be promoted; the conservation of cultural heritage buildings that do not satisfy current safety requirements should be considered and pursued by changing, for example, their current use, so that their possible earthquake induced damage do not pose a risk to human lives and to the functionality of essential services; the preservation of Intangible aspects and values of the society should be accounted for and effort etc.
The “Sustainability” Special Issue aims therefore to collect contributions on innovative approaches and methods for a resilient and sustainable prevention, mitigation and adaptation of seismic risk.
Topics covered by the special issue, encompass among others, the following topics:
(a) seismic hazard assessment from the geophysical, seismological and geotechnical viewpoint, welcoming contributions from scientists of the physical community and contribution on ground and remote monitoring technologies targeting the seismic microzoning and the characterisation of local seismic response;
(b) seismic vulnerability assessment of the existing built environment targeting both buildings and structures, with particular focus on strategic and critical infrastructures;
(c) Innovative low-damage design approaches and technologies;
(d) sustainable and energy efficient technologies for seismic retrofitting of existing structures and infrastructures;
(e) Structural Health Monitoring innovative sensors and approaches for data processing;
(f) Societal vulnerability assessment;
(g) innovative approaches for promoting education, awareness and capacity building in communities;
(h) innovative frameworks, strategies and tools to support an effective and timely emergency management, and a resilient response and recovery;
(i) best practices and lesson learnt (including evidences on what went wrong and can therefore be improved) after recent catastrophic events;
(j) Seismic risk mitigation policies and risk-based insurance.
The Special Issue will be promoted by triggering the attention of renowned scientists in different domains who will be called to contribute.
The Special Issue will be structured into three different Sections, each devoted to a specific domain which the issue topic compels to consider.
Part 1: Geological and geophysical aspects
In the first Section, we will call for contributions dealing with the current understandings of geo-seismic phenomena, their monitoring and the environmental assessments needed to gather thorough land knowledge useful for supporting safer and more resilient infrastructures.
Part 2: Structural aspects (infrastructure, strategic structures, …)
The second Section will focus on technical aspects for building resilient infrastructures in the different domains (residential and industrial buildings, transport infrastructures etc.)
Part 3: Prevention, risk analysis a disaster management
The third Section will host contributions on prevention, prediction and disaster management, as relevant components of the Emergency Management cycle.
Dr. Vittorio Rosato
Dr. Maurizio Pollino
Dr. Sonia Giovinazzi
Prof. Dr. Paolo Clemente
Guest Editors
Manuscript Submission Information
Manuscripts should be submitted online at www.mdpi.com by registering and logging in to this website. Once you are registered, click here to go to the submission form. Manuscripts can be submitted until the deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal (as soon as accepted) and will be listed together on the special issue website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract (about 100 words) can be sent to the Editorial Office for announcement on this website.
Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a single-blind peer-review process. A guide for authors and other relevant information for submission of manuscripts is available on the Instructions for Authors page. Sustainability is an international peer-reviewed open access semimonthly journal published by MDPI.
Please visit the Instructions for Authors page before submitting a manuscript. The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 2400 CHF (Swiss Francs). Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Authors may use MDPI's English editing service prior to publication or during author revisions.
Keywords
- resilience
- sustainability
- mitigation
- adaptation
- prevention
- awareness
- capacity building
- smart decision making processes
- key performance indicators
- low-damage design Seismic hazard
- seismic vulnerability
- social vulnerability
- seismic structural health monitoring
- experimental analysis of seismic response
Benefits of Publishing in a Special Issue
- Ease of navigation: Grouping papers by topic helps scholars navigate broad scope journals more efficiently.
- Greater discoverability: Special Issues support the reach and impact of scientific research. Articles in Special Issues are more discoverable and cited more frequently.
- Expansion of research network: Special Issues facilitate connections among authors, fostering scientific collaborations.
- External promotion: Articles in Special Issues are often promoted through the journal's social media, increasing their visibility.
- e-Book format: Special Issues with more than 10 articles can be published as dedicated e-books, ensuring wide and rapid dissemination.
Further information on MDPI's Special Issue polices can be found here.