Keynote Speakers
Günter Blöschl
TU Wien
Prof. Günter Blöschl is Head of the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering and Water Resources Management at the Vienna University of Technology. He is currently teaching courses on Engineering Hydrology, Risk Assessment, Modelling and Simulation, Water Resources Management and Planning, and Climate Change. His main research interests are in hydrology and water resources management and in particular understanding and predicting floods.
An ERC Advanced Grant on ‘Deciphering River Flood Change’ was awarded to him. Using this grant, he demonstrated the role of climate change in increasing flood risk at the European scale which he published in Science (2017) and in Nature (2019 and 2020). He has recently led the HORA project, where flood risk was mapped for 30,000 km of Austrian streams. As the director of the Vienna Doctoral Programme on Water Resource Systems, funded by the Austrian Science Fund, Blöschl is coordinating interdisciplinary water research.
He is also directing the Hydrology Open Air Laboratory (HOAL) where detailed field observations are performed to understand water and matter fluxes in the landscape. Throughout his career, Günter Blöschl has been a strong advocate of bridging the gap between understanding fundamental processes and the practice of water resources management. He has published about 300 peer-reviewed papers and several books. Prof. Blöschl received the Horton Medal from the American Geophysical Union (AGU), the Wegener Medal from the European Geosciences Union (EGU), and the International Hydrology Prize from IAHS/WMO/UNESCO. He is a member of the Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW), the German National Academy of Science and Engineering (acatech) and the US National Academy of Engineering (NAE). He recently received two honorary doctorates.
Keynote lecture
Driving Processes of Flood Changes and Their Extreme Values
Understanding the changing dynamics of river flood hazards requires a omprehensive analysis of the multiple factors influencing them. This seminar xplores three key drivers: land-use changes, hydraulic interventions, and climate hange. While land-use alterations such as deforestation, urbanisation, and gricultural soil compaction significantly affect small catchments, especially hrough reduced infiltration, their influence diminishes at larger scales where soil saturation dominates runoff processes. Hydraulic structures – including levees, ams, and river training – tend to affect floods of moderate magnitude and have argely localized impacts, though their long-term effects must be assessed within roader human-environment interactions.
Climate change emerges as a complex driver, influencing small catchments via intense convective storms and larger basins through a nuanced interplay of soil moisture, snowmelt, and seasonal precipitation extremes. This seminar highlights recent advances in understanding these factors and underscores the importance of avoiding oversimplified narratives. Integrating these insights into flood risk management is essential for both safety and effective public communication.
Aldo Fiori
University of Roma Tre
Aldo Fiori obtained a M.S. and a Ph.D. in Civil and Hydraulic Engineering from the University of Rome “La Sapienza” in 1990 and 1995, respectively.
He also did a postdoctoral research at Tel Aviv University in 1995. Principal research interests are the theory of flow and solute transport in heterogeneous porous media, subsurface stochastic hydrology, streamflow generation processes and hillslope hydrology, statistical hydrology, flood modeling, design and verification of hydraulic structures.
He has been involved in various editorial and scientific roles, such as the president of the International Committee on Ground Water of the International Association of Hydrological Sciences (IAHS), Co-Editor of Hydrological Sciences Journal, Associate Editor of several journals, such as Water Resources Research and Journal of Hydrology.
He is the recipient of the 2023 International Hydrology Prize – Dooge Medal. Aldo Fiori has been a member or a coordinator of various academic and administrative committees.
Keynote lecture
Challenges in the design of infiltration basins for Managed Aquifer Recharge
Managed Aquifer Recharge (MAR) plays a crucial role in increasing groundwater storage capacity and enhancing water security. Spreading methods like infiltration basins are simple and widely employed easures for MAR. The effectiveness of an infiltration basin is shaped by arious natural factors, such as climatic conditions and soil properties.
Additionally, engineered variables have a significant impact on its performance and the potential risk of groundwater contamination. This contamination risk arises from the interaction between the system’s hydraulic properties and the characteristics of the soil
and solutes. The design of infiltration basins often focuses on ddressing the issue of reduced infiltration rates over time, which is caused by clogging at the basin’s bottom.
However, less emphasis is placed on the threat of groundwater contamination from the infiltrating water. Ultimately, designing infiltration basins requires balancing the complex interaction of natural and engineering factors to optimize MAR efficiency and minimize contamination risks. Some of the challenges associated with these processes are discussed, together with a novel risk-oriented analytical framework.
Hayley J. Fowler
Newcastle University
Hayley J. Fowler is Professor of Climate Change Impacts in the School of Engineering at Newcastle University. Her research focuses on improved physical understanding of changing precipitation extremes and providing better projections for climate adaptation; winning the EGU’s Sergey Soloviev Medal in 2024.
She is a Fellow of the American Geophysical Union (2018) and was a Royal Society Wolfson Research Fellow (2014-19) for her work on understanding climate change impacts on hydrological risks, from extreme rainfall and flooding to droughts She was a Contributing Author to Chapter 8: Water Cycle and Chapter 11: Extremes for the IPCC 6th Assessment Report WGI. From 2021-2023, she was President of the British Hydrological Society.
She advises the UK government on climate risks and resilience through her roles on the Strategic Advisory Board for the Rural and Environment Science and Analytical Services Division in Scotland and on the Department for Energy Security and Net Zero’s Science Expert Group.
Keynote lecture
Are we ready for the storms ahead? Record-shattering rainfall and flood events in a rapidly changing climate
The intensification of extreme precipitation in a warming climate has been shown in observations and climate models to follow approximately theoretical Clausius-Clapeyron scaling. However, larger changes have been indicated in events of short-duration which frequently trigger flash floods or landslides, causing loss of life. At the same time heatwaves and associated droughts and water shortages are increasing in frequency. Together these provide cascading impacts on water quality, agricultural production and increase other societal risks. Continental-scale convection-permitting climate models (CPCMs) and new observational datasets provide the state-of-the-art in understanding future changes to extreme weather (rainfall, wind, hail, lightning) and their compounding effects with global warming. But global climate models underestimate the rate of change of warming in the real world, and the observed increase in extreme weather events, due to their poor representation of dynamical circulation changes and feedbacks from the land, ocean and cryosphere. It will be argued that a shift in focus is needed from our reliance on climate models towards embedding different lines of evidence in a transdisciplinary storylines approach. Ultimately we must work together across disciplines to address these rapid changes and co-create actionable information hat can be quickly embedded into policy and practice, using this approach to improve both early warning systems and projections of extreme weather events for climate adaptation.
Athanasios Loukas
Aristotle University of Thessaloniki
Athanasios Loukasis a Professor of Engineering Hydrology – Management and Development of Water Resources, Head of Transportation and Hydraulic Engineering Department, Director of “Hydraulic Works and Environmental Management” Lab, Director of Master Program “Water Resources” of the School of Rural and Surveying Engineering, Aristotle University of Thessaloniki (2018-today). Previously, he was affiliated with University of Thessaly in which he served as a Professor, Head of the Department of Civil Engineering (2008-2012) and Dean of Faculty of Engineering (2015-2018), Laboratory Director and Director of an international Master Program (2010-2018). His research and activity focus on hydrology, hydrological hazards and risks (droughts and floods), climate change impacts, and water resources management, fields in which he has more than 400 scientific referred international journal publications, conference proceedings publications, books and technical reports. He coordinated and participated in numerous national and international research programs. Besides his research activity, he develops a strong outreach activity, and acts as mentor of a high number of post-graduate and Ph.D. students. He received, during his academic studies and carrier, numerous fellowships, prices and awards such as the Fulbright Research Scholarship in 2013. He is listed in the top world-wide 2% of the most influential scientists (according to his publications and the citations to his publications for his carrier period until 2022) of Stanford University (2023). His is a visiting professor in U.S.A. and European Universities. He is, currently, Editor-in-Chief of European Water, Section Editor-in-Chief “Water Resources Management Policy and Governance” of Water and Editorial Board Member of Water Resources Management and Scientific Review Engineering and Environmental Sciences. He is regular reviewer of national and European research proposals as well as evaluator and responsible of research projects certification. He is affiliated with national and international scientific organizations such as EWRA and EGU.
Keynote lecture
Medicane induced floods. Lessons learned by the analysis and modelling of storms Ianos and Daniel
Mediterranean tropical-like cyclones (TLC), often referred to as Medicanes, are
meteorological phenomena observed over the Mediterranean Sea. The formation of tropical, subtropical cyclones and tropical-like cyclones is infrequent, due to the dry nature of the Mediterranean region. They are predominantly formed over the western and central Mediterranean Sea and moved eastwards, while the area east of Crete is almost devoid of them. Medicanes can occur year-round, peaking between September and January, with an estimated frequency of about one event per year. Climate change is expected to increase their intensity and frequency. Medicanes pose serious threats, including heavy rainfall, flooding, strong winds, lightning, tornadoes, high waves, and storm surges. Between 2016 and 2023, five strong Medicanes affected the Ionian Sea, notably Ianos (September 2020) and Daniel (September 2023), which caused four fatalities and extensive damage in the Ionian Islands and Central Greece. Flooding covered 400 km² and 1,410 km² in Thessaly during Ianos and Daniel, respectively. Statistical analyses were conducted to characterize these events, and hydrological-hydraulic modeling was applied for flood mapping. Key questions and challenges in modelling these floods have been identified to improve understanding and forecasting of such extreme events.