Deputy Prefect of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, Mr Petar Mamula received representatives of the Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering of the University of Zagreb (Prof Snježana Mihalić Arbanas PhD, project manager), the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the University of Rijeka (Prof Željko Arbanas PhD, researcher in the project) and Institute for Physical Planning of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County public institution as participants in the project (director Mr Adam Butigan and leading spatial planner Goran Ljubičić, Bachelor of Science in Architectural Engineering).
At the meeting, the results of the PRI-MJER project Applied research of landslides for the development of measures of mitigation and prevention of risks, financed by EU funds under the Climate Change Adaptation Scheme (2020 – 2023) were presented.
At the press conference, Prof Snježana Mihalić Arbanas and Prof Željko Arbanas PhD announced the formal presentation of the results of the research on landslides in Primorje-Gorski Kotar County in June at the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Rijeka.
Landslide maps created within the PRI-MJER KK.05.1.1.02.0020 (European Fund for Regional Development) project were presented by the academic community to Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, as well as to selected local self-government units.
The term “landslide” refers to various threats caused by the movement of soil down a slope (of natural rocks/soils or embankments) on inclined terrains/slopes. There are a large number of different types of landslides, depending on the mechanism of their movement (fall, topple, slide, flow and lateral spread or spreading) and the type of material moved. Landslides can occur due to intense precipitation (including melting snow), and earthquakes, and very often they are also caused by human activity. Landslides cause material damage to buildings and infrastructure, and frequently human casualties as well.
In the last 15 or so years, natural disasters have been reported multiple times in some parts of the Republic of Croatia due to the instance of numerous landslides that occur in the area of a certain region almost simultaneously or over a short period. In the Disaster Risk Assessment for the Republic of Croatia of 2019, landslides that occurred as a result of the process of sliding and/or flow caused by precipitation were analysed (for simplicity only the term “sliding” is used in the following text). Based on the landslide susceptibility analysis, it follows that on approximately 28% of the surface area of the Republic of Croatia, including parts of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County (PGC), there is a possibility of landslides due to the types of rocks/soil and the characteristics of the relief.
It is assumed that the risk of landslides will increase due to the changes in the climate that has affected meteorological conditions and increasingly frequent intense precipitation. The increase in danger will affect the increase in risk (damage) from sliding, and in this sense, it is necessary to undertake a series of activities to reduce the risk of sliding as part of the adaptation to climate change. The removal of forest cover on slopes, sudden urbanisation of areas on slopes and construction in areas prone to slides represents one of the initiators of landslides, which is why, to reduce this risk, it is necessary to have data on where landslides are located (where a danger already exists), that is, on which parts of the area landslides could occur (potential danger).
For the area of PGC, as part of the PRI-MJER project, researchers from the Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering at the University of Zagreb and the Faculty of Civil Engineering at the University of Rijeka created a series of landslide maps that show where landslides are located (landslide inventory maps with records of existing landslides), i.e. in which areas landslides could occur in the event of extreme precipitation (so-called landslide susceptibility zoning maps with potentially dangerous zones). All maps were made as prototypes of several types of maps that are necessary for the administrations of counties, cities and municipalities because they provide solutions for the responsible management of space whereby they show data and information about landslides on the basis of which it is necessary to make decisions and measures for physical planning, construction, risk management and all other management of water, forests, roads, and so on.
The collaboration of scientists from the Faculty of Mining, Geology and Petroleum Engineering Faculty in Zagreb with scientists from the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Rijeka within the Applied research of landslides for the development of measures of mitigation and prevention of risks project, PRI-MJER, was financed from EU funds under the Climate Change Adaptation Scheme (2020 – 2023). Test maps were created using the new advanced technology of remote sensing (laser scanning from the air), in combination with the methodology of creating landslide maps that Croatian scientists over the last 15 years have developed. Upon the development of prototype maps, the three-year cooperation with numerous potential users of landslide maps from the fields of physical planning, civil protection, water management, road management and others was of key importance, in order to adapt the landslide maps to the specific needs of all users. A very significant contribution came through the cooperation of researchers with the Institute for Physical Planning of Primorje-Gorski Kotar County, which, amongst other things, has already applied PRI-MJER’s maps of landslides to the 4th changes and amendments to the Spatial Development Plan of the Municipality of Jelenje. For the first time, spatial planners have landslide maps that provide information as to where within PGC there are areas where landslides could occur and for which more detailed landslide maps are needed. Likewise, the results of the project are also maps of landslides created for selected parts of the area of PGC, which contain data about where the landslides are located – in the Rječina river basin, the Vinodol valley, in part of the City of Rijeka, Jelenje, and the municipalities of Jelenje, Čavle and Vinodol.
To date, for the Republic of Croatia, including PGC, no maps of landslides were available that could be used to prevent damage from landslides, that is, losses, whether material or human or animal victims. Landslide maps of the PRI-MJER project, created for the pilot areas of PGC, enable the development of a landslide risk management system, from the regional to local level, and in accordance with the state level. Namely, the use of maps of landslides by the regional or local self-government units makes it possible to avoid critical areas with landslides during the creation of spatial plans, as well as prescribing construction conditions for application during the construction or implementation of other projects in the area. Maps of landslides are necessary for preventive measures in the field of spatial planning, civil protection (risk management), water management, etc.
At the end of the PRI-MJER project, researchers from the project will hand over the landslide maps to PGC and local self-government units as part of a specially organised event at the Faculty of Civil Engineering in Rijeka, jointly organised by the two faculties from Rijeka and Zagreb, the project partners. Due to the great contribution made by the creation of the landslide maps, adapted for areas within PGC, and considering the importance of the data and information obtained from these maps, there is a plan to invite all the other units of local self-government from PGC in whose areas there is a risk of landslides to the ceremony.