Topical Collection on "The Nexus between Resilience and Sustainability of Interconnected Critical Entities in the View of Climate Change"

A topical collection of Prevention and Treatment of Natural Disasters (PTND) (E-ISSN: 2753-7544).
Deadline for manuscript submissions: 30 August 2024

Collection Editor: 

Dr. Athanasios Sfetsos
Environmental Research Laboratory, National Centre for Scientific Research "Demokritos", 15310 Aghia Paraskevi, Greece
Interests: climate change resilience of infrastructures; critical infrastructure protection (risk analysis, design of physical protection, vulnerability assessment); disaster management with emphasis on climate hazards and extreme events; climate change analysis and provision of climate services

Topical Collection Information:

Dear Colleagues,

Climate change and extreme events can affect the design, lifespan, serviceability or even destroy interconnected critical entities, such as energy, transportation, telecommunications, buildings, marine and water management facilities. Critical Entities that provide essential services for the maintenance of vital societal functions or economic activities should be provided in an unobstructed manner. In addition, these are inherently interconnected and interdependent systems, and thus, their failure frequently leads to cascading effects.

This topical collection aims for contributions relating to all aspects of critical entities and climate change, such as: (a) climate risk assessment of current and dynamically evolving hazards, (b) vulnerabilities, impacts, and potential cascading effects assessment, also accounting for societal disruption, (c) design and financing sustainable and resilient critical entities, (d) integration of strategies for climate change mitigation and long-term adaptation options, and (e) innovative software solutions with high-end visualization.

This topical collection introduces the most recent advances and emerging innovations on addressing potential risks from climate change and future extreme events pertaining to the financing, design, building, and operation of interconnected critical entities. Such knowledge can act as a viable pathway for making resilient and sustainable critical entities in view of climate change. Real-world applications and case studies demonstrating tangible results and stakeholder engagement are particularly welcome.

Dr. Athanasios Sfetsos
Collection Editor

Keywords:

• Critical Entities
• Climate change
• Resilience
• Sustainability

Manuscript Submission Information:

Please visit the Submissions Guidelines page before submitting a manuscript. Submitted papers should be well formatted and use good English. Manuscripts should be submitted online through the online manuscript submission and editorial system. Additionally, please include a cover letter specifying that the manuscript is intended for the Topical Collection "The Nexus between Resilience and Sustainability of Interconnected Critical Entities in the View of Climate Change" when submitting it online. Manuscripts can be submitted until the submission deadline. All submissions that pass pre-check are peer-reviewed. Accepted papers will be published continuously in the journal and will be listed together on the Topical Collection website. Research articles, review articles as well as short communications are invited. For planned papers, a title and short abstract can be sent to the Editorial Office ptnd@ukscip.com for announcement on this website.

The Article Processing Charge (APC) for publication in this open access journal is 600 USD. Authors who are unable to cover this cost or those who are invited to submit papers may be eligible for discounts or waivers.

Submitted manuscripts should not have been published previously, nor be under consideration for publication elsewhere (except conference proceedings papers). All manuscripts are thoroughly refereed through a double-blind peer-review process.

Published Papers:

1: Title: Preparedness for Prevention: Designing Post-Fire Flood Protection Techniques for A Real Event in Central Greece

Abstract: Climate change-induced wildfires are increasingly prevalent, particularly during summer periods, with evident consequences in multiple regions worldwide. Among the consequences, there are heightened flood risks in affected areas due to extreme storm events, as wildfires alter the hydrological responses of catchments. The Mediterranean, a climate change hotspot, is particularly susceptible to these threats; however, effective flood risk management in these burnt regions remains inadequately explored. In response, we develop an integrated framework to accurately represent a post-fire flash-flood event in a Mediterranean catchment, in Greece. This framework combines meteorological, hydrological, hydraulic-hydrodynamic models, and remote sensing techniques. Moreover, we present a brief review of the most common Post-fire Flood Protection treatments (PFPs), to identify the most suitable for the examined case study. We spatially assess these PFPs, using Geographic Information Systems (GIS), and provide detailed estimations of their expected costs. The flood damage direct costs were also estimated by a semi-automated AI-based approach. Subsequently, these costs were commented in comparison to PFPs cost, underscoring the economic implications of such protection measures. By filling critical knowledge gaps, our study offers insights into the dynamics of post-fire flood events and provides policymakers with valuable insights for timely risk mitigation amidst escalating fire-related disasters.