Risk management and resilience: a perfect match

PRESS RELEASE

Risk management and resilience: a perfect match

ANRA, during the session dedicated to associated risk managers at the 2015 Ferma Forum, analyzed the topic of resilience as applied to the MOSE System, a paradigmatic project of absolute excellence in which risk management is the determining and key factor for success.

Research will be carried out in relation to national strategic works on the impact that increased resilience in the national system has had on GDP, and later, more concretely, the best prevention practices to ensure the business continuity of enterprises in case of ruinous natural phenomena will be collected in a handbook.

Venice, October 5^th, 2015 – The MOSE System is one of the protagonists of the sessions organized by ANRA at the 2015 Ferma Forum, the international leading event for risk managers, which begins today by gathering in the lagoon over 1.600 risk managers from all over Europe.

In his opening speech, Giovanni Cecconi, Director of the Information Center, Consorzio Venezia Nuova, debated the “MOSE System: Technology, innovation and development for protecting the environment and the coasts. Increasing resilience and governing the effects of climate change and the rise of the mean sea level at a global level.”

“We decided to begin the ANRA Annual Conference, which is being exceptionally held in the seat of the 2015 Ferma Forum, with a very valuable presentation on the MOSE System, also and mostly in view of the risk management practices that are inherent to the project - says Alessandro De Felice, President of ANRA. The MOSE System not only mitigates the risks related to climate change and to the rise of the mean sea level, but is also a solution never before attempted, that is unique at a worldwide level: it is being studied outside of Italy and its range is setting new standards all over the world. Resilience, more than anything else, is the leitmotif of all the speeches, because it is becoming a perfect paradigm for our profession, which every day must manage risks to safeguard corporations and help them cope with complex and critical markets. Among our challenges, in fact, we have to manage the tension linked to trying to recover the status quo prior to an emergency, while adapting to new conditions, and, possibly, finding alternative behavioral, operative and business functioning solutions. I am personally grateful to the speakers who will take turns throughout the day, because they’re allowing us to launch a highly relevant debate on risk assessment, analyzing the level of criticality in national strategic works and the impact that increased resilience in the national system has had on GDP.”

The MOSE Project is becoming a cutting-edge and paradigmatic work on the concept of resilience and antifragility applied to the protection of a territory and, for this reason, the system created is of great interest and is being studied around the world. This is about the consolidation of resilience in the face of events related to climate change and to the rise of the mean sea level - phenomena that lead to various social, political and economic risks.

In more general terms, in fact, climate change is one of the most severe threats for risk managers worldwide, who must both mitigate the immediate damage caused - for example - by floods to the production sites of their businesses, and also deal with migratory movements, which will take place in the near and distant future due to new geopolitical conditions and changing environmental conditions in many poor areas around the globe.

“Knowledge related to the Mose System - says Giovanni Cecconi, Director of the Information Center, Consorzio Venezia Nuova - demonstrates the need to accept the challenge of complexity with a systemic view: this is the only way to practice optimism and to generate adaptive abilities, desire for change and confidence to give voice to the aspirations of the people, both real and virtual, so that the overcrowded mega-cities of the world may become more comprehensive. The Venice laboratory tells us that complex systems are subject to continuous changes dictated by co-evolution, which in coastal cities manifests itself as a dynamic balance of competition-cooperation between different cultures to access the territory’s eco-systemic services. The goal of the Venice Learning with Nature Laboratory is to develop tools for adapting to change, beginning with climate change – it was built around the efforts to safeguard Venice and its lagoon, as early as May of 2015 and has had an important recognition: it received first prize in the project competition for saving the Boston Bay at 2070.

These results should encourage us to turn Venice and its surrounding territory into the National Laboratory of Resilience, into a permanent EXPO, a catalyst that is capable of revitalizing the historical city center with its inhabitants along with the national system - says Giovanni Cecconi, Director of the Information Center, Consorzio Venezia Nuova.

Aside from the emblematic case of the lagoon surrounding Venice, which required an exceptional solution that was designed ad hoc with the MOSE System, the entire Italian territory is subject to ongoing ruinous and cyclical natural phenomena. To get a picture of the risks that being in Italy involves, it would be enough just to read the historical catalog listing the geo-hydrological events from the past millennium, which was filled out by the Civil Protection Department and the Research Institute for Hydrogeological Protection of the CNR. The information covers 1.676 landslides that occurred between 843 and 2012, which led to more than 17.500 deaths, wounded and missing people in at least 1.450 locations, and 1.346 floods that occurred between 589 and 2012, with more than 42.000 victims and 1.040 locations. Between 1960 and 2012 - a period for which the catalog is essentially complete, all 20 Italian regions suffered from fatal events: 541 floods in 451 locations in 388 municipalities that led to 1.760 victims (762 dead, 67 missing, 931 injured) and 812 landslides in 747 locations in 536 municipalities with 5.368 victims (3.413 deaths including the 1.917 deaths from the 1963 Vajont catastrophe, 14 missing people, 1.941 wounded). Tragic figures to which we must add the problems that businesses must face in order to operate in production sites that are under a state of emergency.

“If in fact we analyze the phenomenon of hydrogeological instability that periodically hits our country, from the point of view of business risk management, to prevent and mitigate the consequences, for example, of a flood involving a production site, the main guidelines to be adopted can be summarized in a handbook - continues Alessandro De Felice, President of ANRA. Obviously, the best prevention is achieved when choosing a production site: the risk of flooding should be taken into account, but there may be some rules that it is useful to remember, as they will prevent damage to property and ensure the reestablishment of regular activity in the shortest time possible, especially if the site needs to be in direct contact with sea water or rivers.”

In particular, these 10 basic rules should be taken into consideration to guarantee business continuity:

Identify potential flooding causes (not just rivers and adjacent channels for example, but also heavy rains)
Evaluate their impact in terms of the expected level and its probability, through flood maps or historical series. Normally we take into account events with probability of occurrence based on the known historical series from the past 250 or 500 years.
Identify the areas of the facility that will have the severest impact with the flood.
Monitor the flood level of adjacent rivers and pay attention to weather alerts.
Install permanent or temporary barriers to prevent the entry of water inside buildings or in underground areas
Maintain sewer and rainwater collection systems in order to avoid clogging and ensure outflow also with the installation of non-return valves and drainage pumps that must be tested continually with new motivational modes
Install permanent protections on critical supplies (gas, electricity, steam, water, etc.) and on potentially dangerous and/or polluting materials.
Transfer valuable and/or critical equipment and products in stock (or at least position them above the historical flood level)
Develop and include in the emergency plan of the site the necessary actions that must be carried out during the flood (installing temporary barriers, closing critical utilities, replacing critical materials, etc.)
Plan a post-flood recovery plan, including companies specializing in the restoration of buildings, machinery and materials, and explore opportunities to relocate infrastructures on floating platforms to develop new prospects for production continuity

And then, as a further step going beyond the handbook: combine assets exposed to similar risks by organizing internal peer reviews that may be extended to other enterprises to promote and maintain excellence as a process of continuous improvement from the base.

ANRA

Since 1972 ANRA has been bringing together Risk Managers and Corporate Insurance Managers. The association operates through its headquarters in Milan and various regional branches. ANRA is the point of reference in Italy for the propagation of business culture through risk and corporate insurance management. In Europe it is connected through FERMA to other national risk management associations, and through Ifrima it is connected at an international level. ANRA consists of Risk Officers, Risk Managers and Insurance Managers who operate in this field on a daily basis and who benefit from the continuous exchange of their experiences and of their projects, with the final result of encouraging the development of the whole field. Overall, the public and private companies to which the members belong feature a turnover of more than 600 billion euros (about 39% of the GNP). Acting under the firm belief that experience is the best topic for spreading the culture of risk management, ANRA organizes meetings for professional and companies on issues related to corporate risk, training courses for new positions, exchanges with foreign colleagues. In its supporting activities for managers and companies, ANRA is supported by many partners, universities, consulting firms, insurance companies, brokers, service companies in the corporate risk field: their specific expertise brings added value to the association’s members and to their firms.

Ufficio stampa ANRA:

Mirandola Comunicazione
www.mirandola.net

Simona Miele
simona.miele@mirandola.net
Tel.: + 39 348 2509895 -0524 574708
Skype: simomiele

Caricato il 05/10/2015