CONTRIBUTION TO COMMUNITY SOCIAL OBJECTIVES

The development of mountain areas is taking place amidst conflicting economic, social and environmental pressures. The economic value of the hazard assessment predictions which contribute to development decisions is therefore increasing rapidly, placing an ever greater premium on their accuracy and overall reliability. It follows that, insofar as the responsible authorities (e.g. in the EU) possess a superior and dynamic capacity to provide hazard and risk assessments, they can better design, implement and manage development strategies suited to current and future needs. It is also increasingly accepted that large investments in environmental protection should be supported by relatively minor investments in predictive modelling. The project should be viewed in this light, as a long-term investment in the latest environmental technology aimed at improving the efficiency and reliability of decision-making in the development of European mountain regions. In environmental terms this can translate into more efficient environmental impact assessments, planning decisions and management of land use to maintain environmental quality.

Employment, Education, Training and Working Conditions

Abandonment of agricultural lands in mountain areas is an indication of loss of traditional activities and employment. Counterbalancing this is the rise in tourist and other service related occupations. However, for tourist related employment to be sustainable, the services provided (from accommodation to communication links) must be considered safe and should be profitable (requiring in part affordable insurance). Planning authorities in the Pyrenees, for example, are concerned at the risk associated with the spread of second residences as tourism increases in mountain areas. Identification of areas considered most at risk from rapid slope failure is therefore important for locating development in safe areas. Likewise, application of impact prediction models enables protection schemes to be designed for specified levels of threat (e.g. the one in a hundred year event), forming a defined basis for insurance estimates. By these means the project technologies can indirectly benefit local employment. However, the benefits of careful hazard assessment and its incorporation into development zoning can extend more widely. For example, the interruption of road and rail links by debris flows can have economic (and therefore employment) consequences far beyond the mountain area through which the links pass. If the risk of such interruption can be reduced, so is the potential for loss of employment.