Duration: January 2024 – December 2026 (36 months)
EMERGENCE Team at IGF: Margreth Keiler , Andrea Mayer, Annemarie Polderman
Project coordinator: Geosphere Austria, Department for Climate Impact Research
Project partner: University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences
Project website: coming soon
In recent decades, losses from natural hazard have increased in European mountain regions. While there is a scientific consensus that climate change is increasing the magnitude and frequency of many hazard triggers, other reasons underlying loss dynamics remain poorly understood. EMERGENCE contributes to closing these gaps by analysing the spatio-temporal dynamics of triggers of torrential loss events and their interdependencies with the resilience of mountain societies in Austria.
EMERGENCE aims at (1) establishing physioclimatic subregions of Austria; (2) deriving region-specific weather patterns triggering torrential loss events; (3) assessing the dynamics of exposure (elements at risk) and mitigation (protective structures); (4) analysing occurrence patterns of torrential flooding on a catchment level, allowing for an assessment of the main risk drivers and their interdependencies with torrential loss events; and (5) mapping resilience patterns and pathways based on a coupled human-landscape model to unveil dynamic relationships within and between human and natural systems.
Overall, EMERGENCE contributes to the question of how transdisciplinary knowledge creation on triggers of torrential loss events and their interdependencies enables us to understand interactions and feedbacks leading to landform losses and the changing resilience of mountain communities. The insights gained can be incorporated into adaptation strategies in line with stakeholder needs.
This project is funded by the Klima+Energie Fonds (ACRP - Austrian Climate Research Programme, 15th Call).