CAE TAKES PART IN THE CONVENTION OF THE HYDRO-TECHNICAL ITALIAN ASSOCIATION, REGIONAL SECTION OF VENETO.

On the 5th October 2012 CAE is participating in the convention titled “Coastal areas in the North-Adriatic Sea and flood management”. The event will take place in the Provincial Auditorium of Venice, located in Via Forte Marghera, city of Mestre. The National Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA), the Department of Civil, Construction and Environmental Engineering of the University of Padua, IUAV University of Venice and the Province of Venice are all main partners of this initiative.

The first objective of this convention is to stress the importance of a common approach to mitigate the flood risk in a critical coastal area which is shared by three different administrative regions: Friuli Venezia Giulia, Veneto and Emilia Romagna.

The Italian territory is characterized by extended coastal areas, taking as much as 7,700 km or 16.7% of the total coasts facing the Mediterranean Sea. The north-eastern part of the country, historically subject to both natural and anthropic subsidence, is also among the most flood prone. Three of the main reasons are as follows:

• Final parts of four major rivers, contained by dykes, flow in the area (Po, Adige, Piave e Tagliamento);
• Recurrent rough sea occurs in association with exceptional high-tide;
• Increase in the average mean sea level as an historical trend;

In this area there are 2.400 km2 of land under the mean sea level and lagoons whose environmental importance has been universally recognized in the last decades. These areas are currently protected according to the relevant EU Directives.

The Italian Government received the EU Directive on Flood Risk mitigation - 2007/60/CE - by issuing the national law D. Lgs. n° 49/2010. Due to this law and the challenging targets it sets, every concerned institution is currently focused on implementing all the necessary steps required to reduce the vulnerability from floods. This convention gives the chance to national and local authorities in charge of this implementation to share opinions, exchange experiences and present advancement reports on the execution of these activities.

Always side by side with these Institutions to implement new technology for multi-hazard monitoring, CAE will be present at the convention and a sponsor for this event.