news

Support from KTU to 'Türkiye National Risk Shield Model'

Our faculty members, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Can ALTUNIŞIK from the Department of Civil Engineering and Prof. Dr. Volkan YILDIRIM from the Department of Geomatics Engineering, have been selected for the "Türkiye National Risk Shield Model Science Board," which was established under the Presidency.

Following the earthquake disaster that occurred on February 6, 2023, centered in Kahramanmaraş and affecting eleven provinces, the "Scientific Support Board for Disaster Management" was established under the coordination of TÜBİTAK and AFAD. Our faculty members, Prof. Dr. Ahmet Can ALTUNIŞIK from the Department of Civil Engineering and Prof. Dr. Volkan YILDIRIM from the Department of Geomatics Engineering, have also served on this board and carried out important work in the field and in the analysis since the earthquake.

With the support of the Presidency, the "Türkiye National Risk Shield Model Science Board" has been established. This board aims to evaluate all the dangers and threats that Türkiye faces because of disasters and to rebuild and revitalize cities by creating disaster-resistant cities. To achieve this goal, expert academics have come together in this board. It has been decided to form an interdisciplinary board of experts to contribute to the determination of policies to be applied in viewing and managing this situation from the perspective of the environment, urban planning, and climate change and to make our cities ready for future disasters.

The Türkiye National Risk Shield Model is a disaster management model established in our country to ensure sustainable disaster management, comprising the pre-disaster, disaster, and post-disaster phases in all aspects, to determine management, reconstruction, and revitalization policies, and to be led by our esteemed President Recep Tayyip ERDOĞAN and our Minister of Environment, Urban Planning, and Climate Change, Murat KURUM, as well as 13 sub-committees, including a Vice President, Consultative Council, Secretariat General, and academics.

Our faculty member, Prof. Dr. YILDIRIM, has been appointed to work on Geographic Information Systems and Smart Cities, while Prof. Dr. ALTUNIŞIK has been appointed to work on Damage Detection and New Building Technologies.

After conducting fieldwork in the earthquake region, our academics participated in the Assessment Workshop held at the Istanbul Dolmabahçe Work Office under the leadership of our Minister of Environment, Urban Planning, and Climate Change, Mr. Murat KURUM, with their observations, reports, and suggestions. The results and applications reached after the Assessment Workshop, where a series of decisions were made, were summarized in 26 articles and shared with the public.

As most of our country's lands are at risk of disasters and seen in the recent Kahramanmaraş earthquakes, our country needs to be prepared for all kinds of disasters. In order to create disaster-resistant cities and social structures, Turkey's National Risk Shield Model has been implemented, and all efforts necessary for the success of this model must continue to be demonstrated by our University. At this point, we would like to congratulate the academics who have been selected for the Science Board and wish them success in their work.


28 April 2023