Online Tools to Manage Hydro and Mining Dam Failure Risks Discussed

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YEREVAN, Armenia – On January 16-17, 2020, the American University of Armenia (AUA) Center for Responsible Mining and Armenia’s National Platform for Disaster Risk Reduction (ARNAP) jointly organized a dissemination event on “The Role and Application of Geographic Information Systems (GIS) in Disaster Risk Management: ALTER Project Results Dissemination.” The event was held in the framework of the Alliance for Disaster Risk Reduction (ALTER) project.

The two-day event presented the GIS layers and tools developed during the ALTER project and their uses by key stakeholders, including decision-makers, specialists, and students. The aim of the ALTER project is to enhance community resilience in case of disasters. 

In addition to experts from the AUA Center for Responsible Mining, specialists from the Republic of Armenia’s (RA) Ministry of Emergency Situations and the RA Cadastre Committee also made presentations. Experts from the AUA Center for Responsible mining also engaged the participants in using the web-based GIS tool developed as part of the ALTER project. These web-based tools are available at alter-flood-crm.aua.am.

“Such awareness-raising events are essential for the effective work of the RA Ministry of Emergency Situations. I am glad that we have touched upon online tools especially as we feel the need to develop more in this field. At the same time, I am pleased that various experts in the field participated in the workshop, which made the discussions more effective,” said Varditer Movsesyan, chief specialist of the Civil Defense and Elimination of Disaster Consequences Department of the Rescue Service, RA Ministry of Emergency Situations.

“Participants were very interested and actively involved in discussions. Data and tools developed by ALTER can be effectively used by the Rescue Service of the RA Ministry of Emergency Situations and other relevant authorities and professionals to better organize their activities. ALTER demonstrated the value of collaboration between universities, state agencies, private sector, and local communities in enhancing disaster resilience. We look forward to similar collaborations in the future,” said Alexander Arakelyan, the hydrogeological expert and project coordinator at the AUA Center for Responsible Mining.

For more information on ALTER, visit www.alter-project.eu and crm.aua.am/alter.

The American University of Armenia (AUA) Center for Responsible Mining promotes the creation as well as transfer and adoption in Armenia of best practices in socially, environmentally, and economically responsible mining. AUA Center for Responsible Mining works with companies, civil society, and the public sector to achieve this goal. More information can be found at http://crm.aua.am.