Department of Natural Hazards

Research in the field of natural disasters has a tradition of more than half a century at the Department of Geography. The first complex geographical study on floods was carried out after the floods of June 5 and 6, 1954 in Celje, in which many geographers participated under the leadership of Anton Melik. A year later Ivan Gams contributed the first scientific paper on avalanches in the winters of 1950-1954, and in the mid-1970s the Institute led one of the largest Slovenian geographical projects, the Geography of Floodplains in Slovenia. In 1992 the Center for the Multidisciplinary Study of Natural Disasters was established, renamed the Department of Natural Disasters on 14 October 1994. At that time it was headed by Dr Milan Orožen Adamič.

The staff of the department deals with natural disasters that occur frequently in Slovenia. These are mainly slope processes (rockfalls, landslides, debris flows), floods (torrents, karst floods) and avalanches. We also investigate erosion and earthquakes.

The basic orientation of the department is the prevention of natural disasters. Therefore, our work includes the scientific analysis of natural disasters, and we also work in the field of applications. We look at the causes and consequences of natural disasters and examine society's ability to cope with them, particularly in terms of adaptation and flexibility. We do not consider natural disasters catastrophic, but perceive them as a natural phenomenon and part of the landscape. We use geographical information systems and other standard methods (e.g. Gavrilović's method for studying erosion, the RAMMS program for analyzing avalanches).

Vodja: Blaž Komac, PhD
Sodelavci: Mateja Ferk, PhD;  Mauro Hrvatin, PhD;  Miha Pavšek, M.Sc., Primož Pipan, PhD; Jure Tičar, PhD; Manca Volk Bahun, PhD; Matija Zorn, PhD; Matej Lipar, PhD;
Bivši sodelavci: Bojan Erhartič, PhD (+2013), Milan Orožen Adamič, PhD (+2018), Jaka Ortar

Book series Naravne nesreče (Natural Hazards)

Author of photos: Miha Pavšek