November 2nd, 2015 – The University of Milano-Bicocca is becoming more international with every day that passes. On behalf of NATO, the University will lead a Science for Peace program, thanks to Alessandro Tibaldi from the Department of Environment and Territory and Earth Sciences. The project will last three years and the first mission will start on November 3 in Tbilisi. The objectives of the program include the study of natural hazards that could undermine social and geopolitical stability in the Transcaucasia region located between Georgia and the breakaway region of Abkhazia. Tibaldi directs an international team of researchers from the United States, Italy, the UK, Switzerland, Georgia, Kazakhstan and Azerbaijan who will evaluate the risks associated with seismic activity, landslides, and the dispersion of pollutants in the region surrounding the Enguri dam, the second highest arch dam in the world, which provides 75% of the electricity in Georgia. While the dam is located on Georgian territory, the related hydroelectric structures are located in territories where Abkhazia claims sovereignty. Any problems at the dam and hydroelectric structures would be passed on to the entire production system and infrastructure in Georgia, as well as in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. The political instability in the area is due to the Abkhaz-Georgian war, which took place in 1991-1993 and in 1998 and caused an unknown number of victims, between 10,000 and 30,000 Georgians killed by Abkhaz separatists. In 2008, the area was devastated by the South Ossetian War, between Georgia, and Russia, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, a conflict that led to 2,000 deaths. The project will kick off with a meeting between the participating researchers, the Minister for Environment Protection of Georgia and NATO representatives, followed by a first inspection of the dam and the surrounding areas. (Red)
