by InTrieste
Regional officials and university leaders on Monday inaugurated UNIUD RESILHub, a new advanced training center focused on resilience and sustainable development, housed in the historic Palazzo Fantoni.
The initiative, led by the University of Udine, aims to serve as a hub for research, training and practical solutions to address complex global challenges, from natural disasters to socio-economic crises. Regional President Massimiliano Fedriga said the project was conceived not only to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the 1976 Friuli earthquake but also to translate that experience into long-term planning and prevention.
Italy, Fedriga noted, has proven effective at responding to emergencies but has often struggled with structural, long-term planning to prevent or mitigate crises. The new center, he said, seeks to bridge that gap by bringing together multidisciplinary expertise and strengthening collaboration between public institutions and academia.
Regional officials Riccardo Riccardi, responsible for Civil Protection, and Barbara Zilli, the regional finance councillor, also attended the ceremony.
Riccardi pointed to an increase in extreme events affecting the Friuli Venezia Giulia region in recent decades. Since 1994, nine national emergencies have been declared in the region, including three in the past seven years alone — the 2018 Vaia storm, the severe hailstorm of 2023 and recent flooding in the Isontino area. Managing these crises has required roughly €1 billion in public funding and thousands of reconstruction projects.
The growing frequency and intensity of such events, Riccardi said, underscore the need for a new approach centered on prevention, integrated risk management and multidisciplinary cooperation.
The RESILHub school will focus on science-based and experience-based training, including programs for professionals involved in emergency management. One of the first courses will train a new profile of “resilience officers,” who will work within the region’s emergency coordination system.
University officials said the initiative reflects the continuing legacy of the 1976 earthquake, which led to the creation of the University of Udine and helped shape the region’s approach to reconstruction and community resilience.
