KaraMon

The project area in the Karawanken (Unesco Geopark Karawanken) in the border region between Austria and Slovenia has been repeatedly hit by severe weather events in recent decades. In the summer of 2023 in particular, the effects were severe, with the entire infrastructure failing for several days. Resilience to natural disasters is to be improved by developing a joint digital monitoring, communication, prevention and intervention network.

One goal is to implement a reliable monitoring and communication system to improve risk assessment and support civil protection. In the event of a disaster, improved cross-border communication between the crisis teams of the municipalities and emergency organisations (bilateral corridor) is to be ensured. An early warning system for emergency response organisations and the population is to be developed in order to be able to react to potentially damaging weather developments at an early stage. Monitoring of potential hazards using a monitoring system with improved weather data and landslide sensors is to be intensified. This will make it possible to better assess weather situations and the resulting risks of flooding, mudslides and landslides. A landslide warning system will be implemented to better assess the acute hazards in the area by using sensors to measure weather parameters and landslides. This is additionally supported by a developed communication tool, which is also fed by nationally available data sets. The knowledge gained in this way, which also improves conclusions and assessments over a longer observation period, will be made available to the crisis teams as a basis for decision-making. Furthermore, the data obtained will be used as a basis for coordinated, bilaterally agreed deployment protocols in this closed geographical area (geopark) and options for improving bilateral intervention. The project-specific target is the improvement of risk assessment and thus prevention as well as the basis for improved intervention coordination.