Project start: 1.10.2025.

Slope instabilities are a natural hazard that can cause major damage to infrastructure, ecosystems and human lives, i.e. risk elements in the urban environment. The occurrence of instabilities is influenced by geological, geomorphological, hydrological and anthropogenic factors and often occurs in areas with higher rainfall, in earthquake zones and in areas with pronounced dynamic effects such as coasts. According to previous analyses of landslide susceptibility and coastal vulnerability, the proposed research area falls in a part of the Republic of Croatia with high susceptibility, where there are numerous recent and historical instabilities, and the occurrences in the hinterland and coastal area can be differentiated by location and mechanisms. Landslides in the study area occur mainly in the flysch zone, which is framed by carbonate rocks. Types of instability include landslides of smaller and larger blocks, often without warning, shallow rotational and translational landslides, slow movement on slopes and erosion in coastal areas where undercutting occurs, and landslides and slides on the coast. The causes of landslides in the study area are rainfall, earthquakes and long-term wave erosion, but also human activities such as urban development and poor land use practises. Previous research has also shown that climate change will increase the number of instabilities, suggesting a multidisciplinary strategy for geohazard risk management and requiring the collaboration of several sectors, including local and regional government bodies, the private sector, civil protection bodies, scientists and the local population. The project proposal aims to deepen the understanding of the local context of existing geohazards in high-risk areas through an interdisciplinary approach, determine the extent of their activity and the impact of climate change on geohazards and the exposure of existing vulnerability elements, and identify resilience-building mechanisms and measures that can mitigate the expected losses.