The Faculty of Economy, University of Tirana, Epoka University in Tirana and the University of Novi Sad, organized the Second International Symposium Knowledge For Resilient soCiEty -K-FORCE 2019, within Erasmus + K-FORCE project. The event took place on 9 September 2019, with the opening session held at the National Historical Museum and proceeding with the presentation and discussion of papers at the premises of Epoka University. In line with the overall objectives of the K-FORCE project, this symposium was dedicated to discussing current issues in education, science and practice. The new knowledge produced following the strong collaboration between project partners aimed to benefit practitioners, scientists and students working or studying in the field of DRM&FSE.
In the opening session, representatives of the University of Tirana, Epoka University and coordinator of the K-Force project gave welcoming speeches to the Symposium. Important supportive institutions in Albania were also invited to give their welcoming speeches. Deputy Minister of Finance and Economy in Albania, and Deputy Mayer of Tirana Municipality highlighted the importance of institutional and academic cooperation in the field of DRM as a necessity for effective disaster reduction measures. A special section was dedicated to promoting the strong collaboration with national and international partners working in the field of DRM such as: UNDP climate change program, GIZ, Albanian National Agency for Territorial Planning and Albanian Agency of Water Resources Management.
The opening session of the Symposium presented three important studies of the keynote speakers, following a short panel of discussion of the paper results:
- Brankica MILOJEVIĆ: INTEGRATED SPATIAL PLANNING IN FUNCTION OF FLOOD MANAGEMENT IMPLEMENTATION IN BALKAN REGION
- Srđan POPOV, Ljiljana POPOVIĆ: INFORMATION INFRASTRUCTURE OF SMART CITIES, EXPERIENCES FROM NOVI SAD
- Riste VOLCHEV, Nikola POSTOLOV, Cvetanka CHIFLIGANEC, Marijana LAZAREVSKA, Meri CVETKOVSKA: RC BEAM EXPOSED TO DIFFERENT FIRE MODELS
The second part of the Symposium consisted of two parallel sessions of paper presentations and two poster sessions. More than 70 authors and co-authors contributed to the scientific work of the Symposium, with a total of 33 papers published in the proceedings book. Important issues in the field of Disaster Risk Management, Fire Safety Engineering and Resilience were analyzed by authors bringing evidences from countries including: Denmark, Sweden, Slovakia, North Macedonia, Montenegro, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, and Serbia. Resilient societies are based on knowledge and training, as well as preparedness.
Building synchronized regional capacities in higher education, according to regional needs and contemporary trends, is a first step towards building resiliency of our region. Precisely in the light of these observations, the K-Force project has contributed in promoting and developing higher education studies in the field of DRM&FSE. The organization of the Second International Symposium K-Force 2019 consisted in boosting further cooperation in the field of DRM&FSE, promoting the results of the research within the project framework, and contributing to the DRM literature with studies for Western Balkan Countries.
Presentations