PS 3.103: Resilient Infrastructure Planning – from Research to Practice

Mountain regions face increasing vulnerability due to natural hazards and climate change. Infrastructure development in mountains is challenged by environmental, economic, and technical constraints, compounded by inadequate risk assessments and outdated practices. Significant barriers remain, including a lack of reliable data, limited focus on risk-informed policymaking and the research to practice gap. Comprehensive multi-hazard risk assessment, supported by emerging technologies like AI and machine learning, are essential to ensure resilient and adaptive infrastructure systems. It is important to link emerging research with the mainstream practice and translate knowledge to action. Therefore, collaboration between researchers, policymakers, and practitioners is critical to building resilient and inclusive infrastructure which addresses the needs of mountain communities. This 75-minute session will include a keynote address, a panel discussion, and the launch of a publication that highlights the urgency of disaster-resilient infrastructure (DRI) in mountain regions, showcases good practices, and amplifies the voices of mountain communities and stakeholders.

The session aims to achieve the following objectives:

• To promote research and innovation on DRI in mountain regions.
• To identify avenues for bridging the gap between research and practice in implementing DRI.
• To identify opportunities to integrate research and practice to promote DRI in policies, guidelines, regulations, tools and technologies, and capacity development.
• To highlight state-of-the-art research, innovations, and good practices for integrating resilience in mountain infrastructure systems