Blended Intensive Programme (BIP) – University of Bucharest

The Blended Intensive Programme hosted by the University of Bucharest focusing on Quantifying vulnerability to natural hazards in changing climate patterns. New perspectives and methods

Virtual Classes

Over 5 weeks, weekly sessions were held covering the following topics:

Vulnerability in the Age of the Anthropocene
State of the climate
Sea level changes - changes to coastal areas and adaptation methods
Social Vulnerability in Coastal Environments
Climatic and tectonic signals in landscape evolution of active orogens
Changing geohazards in response to tectonic and climatic forcing
Dynamics of geohazards and disasters in fragile coupled landscapes under changing climate
How to increase the resilience of landscapes and communities to climate change impacts

This was very important for me because we could gain a lot of previous knowledge to use and observe in the field activities.

Field activities in the Vrancea Seismic Region

In the first day, we met in Bucharest and went to the Geography Campus of the Bucharest University for introductory lectures on relevant geomorphology concepts and background to the area. We then walked around the city observing retrofitting measures on buildings and assessed structures at high risk of failure in the event of another major earthquake like the one in 1977 that struck on March 4, measuring 7.2 on the Richter scale and causing widespread destruction, especially in Bucharest. Over 1,500 people were killed and thousands of buildings were damaged or destroyed.

After the visit to the university, we continued to Pătârlagele in the Vrancea seismic region. The following days included:

Visits to shallow landslides in the molasse sector of the Subcarpathians
Assessment of slope instability near a large reservoir
Observation of an earthquake-induced landslide and mudflows
Exploration of vulnerability differences in village buildings
Visit to mud volcanoes and discussion on DRR in protected areas
Group presentations on impact chains at the Pătârlagele Natural Hazards Research Center

Explore More Field Activities and Photos

Below you can interact with a 3D WebScene showcasing the locations and fieldwork carried out in the Vrancea seismic region.