Keynote - Geoverbund ABC/J Summer Festival 2022

Copyright: © Ioannis Papanikolaou

Asc. Prof. Dr. Ioannis Papanikolaou (Greece) got his Diploma of Geology from the University of Athens and did his Ph.D. in Earthquake Geology and Seismic hazards at University College, London (UCL), UK. He served as Topic Owner of Natural Catastrophe Risk of the Insurance and Reinsurance Stakeholder Group at EIOPA (European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority) and as the Leader of the International Focus Group “Earthquake Geology and Seismic hazards (EGSHaz) of INQUA. He has 60 publications in Journals of the Citation index, >1000 citations and h-Index 20. He is involved in research, education and outreach related to natural hazards. He is currently an Associate Professor of Structural Geology, Geoenvironment and Natural Catastrophes and the Director of the Mineralogy-Geology Laboratory at the Department of Natural Resources and Agricultural Engineering at the Agricultural University of Athens. More information available on his homepage: here.

We are very pleased to welcome Asc. Prof. Dr. Ioannis Papanikolaou as keynote speaker on the occasion of the summer festival and to hear his lecture on Natural Hazards, Catastrophe Modelling and Geosciences: new Tools and new Challenges.

Keynote Summary:

According to the UN Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR), between 1970 and 2000, an average of 90 to 100 medium- and large-scale disasters occurred per year. Between 2001 and 2020, the number of disasters increased to between 350 and 500 and is expected to reach 560 per year by 2030. As a result, economic losses associated with disasters are "out of control" and will continue to rise unless disaster risk management becomes a central part of companies' investment strategies.

Questions will be focused on:
• How did natural processes turn into catastrophes?
• Catastrophe risk and Solvency II - what does the new European regulation implies?
• What about standard formulas, internal catastrophe models and their components?
• What does the insurance industry require from scientists and researchers?
• How effectively have our new scientific findings been implemented in the insurance industry?
• Who oversees the Models?
• What are the challenges in assessing high severity, low probability events?
• What is the role of geological data in extending the history of observations into the past?
• Deterministic-scenario-based vs. probabilistic seismic hazard assessment
• Time-independent vs. time-dependent-probabilistic seismic hazard assessment

In doing so, the presentation will try to emphasize on:
1. the importance of applying innovative, multidisciplinary approaches to natural hazard assessment; and
2. the importance of established (LiDAR, InSAR) as well as the incorporation of new tools (e.g. UAV photogrammetry) in achieving high spatial and temporal resolution.“