At the ISSW 2018 (International Snow Science Workshop) in Innsbruck, on the 10th of October a Public Day was organized in cooperation with EUSALP Action Group 8, to present the conference topics to a broader public.
The ISSW is the world’s largest conference on snow and avalanches. The thematic focus of ISSW lies on current advances in snow and avalanche science and innovative technologies at an international level. Around 1,000 local, national and international participants, from natural hazard experts to decision-makers and interested snow sports enthusiasts, discussed recent findings in avalanche forecasting and dynamics, protection measures, snow management, as well as guiding, rescue and risk strategies.
Topic: “Safe living space through new ways in risk management”
Our society has to develop new ways in risk management to preserve the save living space in the Alps, and to encounter the challenges through the transformation of society, the effects of climate change and the associated natural hazards together.
The high-calibre afternoon event was open to the public and offered the interested audience insights into cooperative approaches on how to jointly protect the Alps as a living and economic area for sustainable development.
Exciting panel discussion
In a panel discussion, new proposed solutions for natural hazard management were critically examined and discussed by representatives from regional and local politics, practice and research. Such solutions include integrated protection systems for living space and infrastructure as well as intensified cooperation with the population and experts from various fields for the risk management on local level.
The EU Strategy for the Alpine Region offers an opportunity to respond to these particular challenges of the Alpine space in close cooperation together with 48 regions and seven States.
From left: Regional Building Director Robert Müller, Deputy Governor Josef Geisler, Christian Wilhelm from the Office for Forests and Natural Hazards Graubünden, Mayor of Kals Erika Rogl, Thomas Feistl from the Bavarian Avalanche Warning Service, Prosecutor Maria Freisinger, Gebhard Walter, Torrent and avalanche control, Head of section Tyrol, and moderator Sabine Volgger.
The combination of various mitigation measures from constructional protection to artificial avalanche release will become more important in the future, according to Gebhard Walter, Torrent and avalanche control, Head of section Tyrol, Deputy Governor Josef Geisler, Thomas Feistl from the Bavarian Avalanche Warning Service and moderator Sabine Volgger.