International Consortium On Landslides Research Articles

More than just technology for landslide disaster mitigation: signatories to The Kyoto Landslide Commitment 2020—No. 3

The Kyoto Landslide Commitment 2020 (KLC 2020;Sassa [3]) has officially been launched since the online launching session of KLC 2020, 5 November 2020 in the midst of COVID19 pandemic (Sassa [4], [5]) In the field of capacity building, SE RIBC offers courses for postgraduate students in landslide mechanics, dynamics and stabilization, and landslide risk mitigation Since 2011, UB FMG has been a full member of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) and has gradually been intensifying its contributions to the ICL worldwide efforts for landslide risk reduction and international promotion of landslide research Since 2009, ITGIS has been a full member of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) and has been gradually intensifying its contributions to the ICL worldwide efforts for landslide risk reduction and international promotion of landslide research [Extracted from the article] Copyright of Landslides is the property of Springer Nature and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use This abstract may be abridged No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract (Copyright applies to all Abstracts )

Undertakings of the Institute of Geography of the National Autonomous University of Mexico, ICL World Centre of Excellence on landslide risk reduction

The primary aim of this paper is to highlight the importance of scientific collaboration for landslide disaster risk reduction in Mexico. Drawing upon specific undertakings into applied research, this article attempts to outline the emerging role of the ICL World Centre of Excellence (WCoE) based in the Institute of Geography (IGg) of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), Mexico City. This paper begins by offering a brief introduction of the significance of WCoEs in the international landslide disaster research sphere. In the second section, general information of the institutional framework and the IGg-UNAM WCoE is provided. The third part contextualises the landslide research engagement with reference to the activities carried out under the umbrella of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL). Overall insights are offered in the final section.

Contribution of the International Consortium on Landslides to the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction: engraining to the Science and Technology Roadmap.

A year after the establishment of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030 (SFDRR), the science and technology community (STC) endorsed in Geneva the UNISDR Science and Technology Roadmap to Support the Implementation of the SFDRR 2015–2030 (STR-SFDRR). Conducted actions by the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) reflect priorities and challenges at different scales with regard to the progress of multi-sectoral partnerships, recognising the key role of the STC for the implementation of the SFDRR. Central to such endeavour are the Sendai Landslide Partnerships 2015–2025 and the new-fangled Kyoto Landslide Commitment 2020. While the former was conceived as a strategy for global promotion of understanding and reducing landslide disaster risk, the latter is directed to advocate for harmonic cohesiveness between the Sendai Landslide Partnerships 2015–2025, and the SFDRR, the 2030 Agenda Sustainable Development Goals, the New Urban Agenda and the Paris Climate Agreement. By encompassing the linkages of the contributions of the ICL community to the expected outcomes of the STR-SFDRR, this paper provides valuable input to foster the SFDRR, and provides concrete information on the ongoing ICL initiatives, actions and deliverables for strengthening partnerships and science-informed public policies to reduce landslide disaster risk and to advance Integrated Landslide Disaster Risk Management at different scales.

Estimation of the past and future landslide hazards in the neighboring slopes of the 2016 Aranayake landslide, Sri Lanka

A rapid and long-traveling landslide was triggered by a monsoon rainfall of a total of 446.5 mm for 3 days in the Aranayake area, Sri Lanka. The landslide destroyed 75 houses and killed 127 persons along the course of this landslide. The mechanism of this landslide was investigated by a joint team of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) and the National Building Research Organization (NBRO) of the Government of Sri Lanka in 2017 and 2018; the investigation was part of the WCoE and IPL projects. Physical properties of soil samples taken from the source area of the Aranayake landslide were examined through a series of undrained ring-shear tests, and the measured properties were used in a numerical method, LS-RAPID, to simulate initiations and motions of landslides in this area. The authors then tried to first reproduce a landslide, which was considered, from available pieces of evidence, to have most likely happened in the past, then, to assess the risk of a potential future landslide that is expected to occur close to the 2016 Aranayake landslide. Two possible sliding surfaces were assumed to develop through the soil mass, one along the boundary between the weathered surface soil and the jointed bedrock and another along a potential aquiclude inside the soil. This attempt to estimate movements of both past and future landslides based on the numerical reproduction of the 2016 Aranayake landslide hazard will help develop landslide hazard assessment technologies.

Seminar on “Engineering and environmental geology in the permafrost region along the Sino-Russian-Mongolian Economic Corridor under the background of climate change” and the Annual Academic Conference of 2018 of ICL-CRLN and the Cold Region Landslide Research of IPL-WCoE held in Harbin

The seminar was held in Harbin City, China, on November 16–19, 2018. This seminar is also the annual academic conference of ICL-CRLN (Landslides Research Network in Cold Regions of the International Consortium on Landslides) and the Cold Region Landslide Research of IPL-WCoE (World Center of Excellence of International Programme on Landslides). Experts and scholars from Canada, Czech Republic, Russia, and China met and had extensive exchanges on the subjects and looked at the impacts of the issues on human environment and engineering stability. To benefit from this important meeting, the transportation management authorities and some officials from the local governments of Heilongjiang Province and Inner Mongolia Autonomous Region also participated together with teachers and students from some universities and scientific research institutes of China. The meeting was co-organized by the Northeast Forestry University of China and the State Key Laboratory of Frozen Soil Engineering and was under the co-sponsorship of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL), the Integrated Research on Disaster Risk (IRDR) of International Science Council (ISC), and the International Consortium on Geo-disaster Reduction (ICGdR).

Message from Peter Bobrowsky—President of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL)

Message from Peter Bobrowsky—President of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL)

Edition of the monthly journal Landslides in 2018 and the lists of active editors and reviewers in 2017

Monthly Journal “Landslides” was founded as the first project of the International Programme on Landslides (IPL) to establish “Landslide Science” as the central activities of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL). It aims to contribute to the International Strategy on Disaster Reduction (ISDR) and the Education for Sustainable Development as UNITWIN (University Twinning and Networking) Programme of UNESCO. The ICL, with support of 2017 Ljubljana Declaration by participants of the Fourth World Landslide Forum in 2017, is moving forward with the preparation of the Kyoto 2020 Commitment (KC2020) to further ISDR-ICL Sendai Partnerships 2015-2025 after 2025. “Landslides” was changed from bimonthly journal to monthly journal from January 2018 to serve as a newsletter for the progress of KC2020. Categories of Landslides were modified and a new category of News/Kyoto Commitment was created. The editorial process of Landslides includes voluntary contribution from 148 editors and 1,137 reviewers as of 23 April 2018. Editors and reviewers successfully working in the editorial process and review in 2017 are appreciated for their contribution.

LARAM School 2018: the doctoral school on “LAndslide Risk Assessment and Mitigation”

The international school for PhD students and young doctors on “LAndslide Risk Assessment and Mitigation” (LARAM) is presented and, specifically, information is provided about the next edition of the doctoral school that will held in Italy, at the University of Salerno, on September 3–14, 2018. The LARAM School is managed by the Geotechnical Engineering Group (GEG) of the University of Salerno, which recently became an Associate member of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL). The 2018 edition of the LARAM School is organised as an ICL/IPL activity.

3rd Regional Symposium on Landslides in the Adriatic-Balkan Region (3rd ReSyLAB)—a final report

The 3rd Regional Symposium on Landslides in the Adriatic-Balkan Region (3rd ReSyLAB) was held in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from June 11 to 13, 2017, with 70 participants from nine countries (Austria, Bosnia and Hercegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, Italy, Republic of Macedonia, Serbia, Slovenia, Spain)—scientists, engineers, researchers, students, experts, politicians, and other decision-makers working in the area of landslide risk reduction in the region. The ReSyLAB is a biannual event organized by the Adriatic-Balkan Network of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL ABN). Being an important form of activities of this ICL regional network comprising of six ICL members from four countries, it was also a contribution of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) to the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030. This article reports on the main outcomes of the 3rd ReSyLAB Symposium. Altogether, 41 abstracts were published in the symposium book of abstracts, and the symposium proceedings with over 20 reviewed full papers are under preparation to be printed early in 2018. During the 3rd ReSyLAB, a five invited keynote lectures have been presented, and 28 oral presentations are given to the audience. An important part of the symposium was a Round Table entitled “Enhancing cooperation between landslide research community and end users.” On the last day of the symposium, over 30 experts participated in two post-symposium study tours in Slovenia.

The Fourth World Landslide Forum, Ljubljana, 2017

The Fourth World Landslide Forum (WLF4) was held in Cankarjev dom—Cultural and Congress Centre in Ljubljana, Slovenia, from 30 May to 2 June 2017, with over 600 participants from 49 countries, 5 international organizations, and 4 United Nations organizations—scientists, engineers, researchers, students, experts, politicians, and other decision makers working in the area of landslide risk reduction. Well, over 100 of them were (post)graduate students. The WLF4 as a triennial event was a contribution of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) to the implementation of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015–2030. This article reports on the main WLF4 events and outcomes of the forum. Altogether, close to 400 peer-reviewed full papers, including keynote, invited, and other submitted papers, were published by Springer Nature in five volumes with a total of over 3600 pages. During the WLF4, 20 new World Centres of Excellence on Landslide Risk Reduction for 2017–2020, IPL Awards for Success, Varnes Medals, Best Paper Awards, and other means of recognitions were handed out to the recipients. The WLF4 participants have adopted the “2017 Ljubljana Declaration,” and drafted the “Kyoto 2020 Commitment,” in order to stress their strong and joint commitment for the ISDR-ICL Sendai Partnerships 2015–2025 on its way towards the Fifth World Landslide Forum to be held in November 2020 in Kyoto, Japan.

Participants in the Fourth World Landslide Forum and call for ICL members, supporters, and associates

The ANNEX to the 2017 Ljubljana Declaration on Landslide Risk Reduction described in the “Preface” section of this issue is the list of participants (by organizations) in the Fourth World Landslide Forum. In this article, emphasis is put on this list of organizations as they are expected to be the key components for the Fifth World Landslide Forum 2020 in Kyoto, Japan. The participants in the Fourth World Landslide Forum 2017 adopted the 2017 Ljubljana Declaration on Landslide Risk Reduction. They further endorsed the concept of the Kyoto 2020 Commitment for Global Promotion of Understanding and Reducing Landslide Disaster Risk. The commitment aims to establish a long-term, wider, and stronger network after WLF5 2020 among three membership categories, namely, the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) full members/supporters/associates, ICL-supporting organizations (UN and international global organizations) and ICL-supporting governments, and ISDR-ICL Sendai Partnerships 2015–2025. This article introduces three categories of ICL memberships and calls for participation.

Implementation of the ISDR-ICL Sendai Partnerships 2015–2025 for global promotion of understanding and reducing landslide disaster risk

The ISDR-ICL SENDAI Partnerships 2015–2025 The International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) was founded on 21 January 2002 in Kyoto, Japan. The ICL proposed a thematic session on landslides to take place at the Second United Nations World Congress on Disaster Reduction (WCDR), Kobe, Japan in 2005. Based on the outcome of this session Letter of Intent 2005, the 2006 Tokyo Action Plan—strengthening research and learning on landslide and related earth system disasters for global risk preparedness was adopted at the United Nations University, Tokyo, Japan (Sassa 2006). The Tokyo Action Plan proposed the World Landslide Forum (WLF) held every 3 years, the identification of World Centres of Excellence on Landslide Risk Reduction (WCoE) at each World Landslide Forum, and the establishment of the IPL Global Promotion Committee (IPL-GPC) to manage the International Programme on Landslides (IPL), a programme of the ICL for ISDR. ICL organized a 10th Anniversary Conference on 17–20 January 2012 in Kyoto when the ICL Strategic plan 2012– 2021—To create a safer geoenvironment was adopted (Sassa 2012). At this conference, ICL examined the 2014 Beijing Declaration to be adopted by the World Landslide Forum 3 in Beijing, China, in 2014 and the draft of ICL-IPL Sendai Partnerships 2015–2025 to be proposed in Sendai, Japan, in March 2015. A high-level panel discussion Initiative to create a safer geoenvironment toward WCDRR 2015 and forward was held at the Third World Landslide Forum in Beijing, 2014. Figure 1 is a group photo after the panel discussion including the Director-General of UNESCO Ms. Irina Bokova.

A new high-stress undrained ring-shear apparatus and its application to the 1792 Unzen–Mayuyama megaslide in Japan

Sassa and others in the Disaster Prevention Research Institute (DPRI), Kyoto University, developed a series of undrained ring-shear apparatus to physically simulate landslide initiation and motion, from DPRI-3 (Sassa 1992) to DPRI-7 (Sassa et al., Landslides 1(1):7–19, 2004). The maximum undrained capacities in the DPRI series ranged from 300 to 650 kPa. Sassa and others in the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) have developed a new series of undrained ring-shear apparatus (ICL-1and ICL-2) for two projects of the International Programme on Landslides (IPL-161 and IPL-175). Both projects are supported by the Science and Technology Research Partnership for Sustainable Development Program (SATREPS) of Japan. ICL-1 was developed to create a compact and transportable apparatus for practical use in Croatia; one set was donated to Croatia in 2012. ICL-2 was developed in 2012–2013 to simulate the initiation and motion of megaslides of more than 100 m in thickness. The successful undrained capacity of ICL-2 is 3 MPa. This apparatus was applied to simulate possible conditions for the initiation and motion of the 1792 Unzen–Mayuyama megaslide (volume, 3.4 × 108 m3; maximum depth, 400 m) triggered by an earthquake. The megaslide and resulting tsunami killed about 15,000 people. The Unzen Restoration Office of the Ministry of Land, Infrastructure and Transport (MLIT) of Japan systematically collected various papers and reports and published two summary leaflets: one in English in 2002 and an extended version in Japanese in 2003. Samples were taken from the source area (for initiation) and the moving area (for motion). The hazard area was estimated by the integrated landslide simulation model LS-RAPID, using parameters obtained with the ICL-2 undrained ring-shear apparatus. The estimated hazard area agrees reasonably with the landslide moving area reported in the Ministry leaflets.

Development of ICL landslide teaching tools

Capacity development is important and urgently needed for landslide disaster risk reduction. This is especially so in developing countries where mountain and urban development is accelerating most rapidly, including construction of highways and railways and residential complexes. However, effective tools to teach practical landslide risk reduction knowledge and skills are not available. Therefore, International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) has decided to compile a collection of landslide teaching tools (Sassa et al. 2013) to provide teaching materials to ICL members and other landslide teaching entities to assist in education of university students, local government officers, staff in nongovernmental organizations, and the public. The teaching toolbox contains five parts: (1) mapping and site prediction; (2) monitoring and early warning; (3) testing and numerical simulation; (4) risk management; and (5) country practices and case studies. The teaching toolbox contains three types of tools: (1) TXT tools consisting of original texts with figures; (2) PDF tools consisting of already published reference papers, manuals, guidelines, and others; and (3) PPT tools consisting of PowerPoint® files made for lectures. The initial TXT tools have been published as a full color booklet (405 pages). The PDF tools and PPT tools are contained in a CD. The basic concept and a list of contents of the ICL landslide teaching tools are introduced in this article.

The ICL Adriatic-Balkan Network: analysis of current state and planned activities

International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) Adriatic-Balkan Network was established in January 2012 as one of eight regional and thematic ICL networks to promote activities of the International Consortium on Landslides and the International Programme on Landslides. This paper presents the annual report of the ICL Adriatic-Balkan Network for the year 2012. The main activity of the regional network was to complete an overview of publicly available data and sources about landslides in the region, scientific and professional practices related to evaluation and mitigation of landslide hazard, as well as related legislative framework. Recommendations for the discussion and endorsement in the course of the ICL Adriatic-Balkan Network activities will be derived from the analysis of strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats related to landslide issues which are present at the national level in Croatia, Slovenia, and Serbia and at the regional level. Discussion and endorsement of the recommendations are planned as a further activity which will be held in March 2013 in Zagreb (Croatia), during the planned first regional symposium on landslides in the Adriatic-Balkan Region.

The ICL landslide monitoring and warning thematic network

The International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) was established in 2002 and soon became an important world player in the field of landslide risk mitigation; in 2012, it has more than 50 member organizations throughout the world. As a part of the activities to celebrate ICL’s tenth anniversary, a strategic document for the second decade called the ICL Strategic Plan 2012–2021 with the motto “to create a safer geo-environment” was adopted in Kyoto in January 2012. An important part of this document was a clear dedication to broaden the scope and societal impact in a thematic, institutional, and geographic manner. Thus, thematic and regional networks for landslide risk reduction were recognized to be an important form of ICL activities in the decade to come. In this paper, one of the eight newly established thematic and regional ICL networks is presented: the ICL Landslide Monitoring and Warning Thematic Network, a joint effort of ten ICL member organizations and two ICL supporters from eight countries, five of them are active ICL World Centres of Excellence in Landslide Risk Reduction in the period 2011–2014. The general objective of this thematic network is to compare experiences in the field of landslide monitoring and existing/installed (early) warning systems for active landslides in different regions of the world.

ICL strategic plan 2012–2021—To create a safer geo-environment

The International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) was founded on 21 January 2002, during the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization–Kyoto University Joint Symposium on Landslide Risk Mitigation and Protection of Cultural and Natural Heritage, as an activity of IGCP-425. In its first decade, ICL established the first scientific full-color journal Landslides, a new International Programme on Landslides, organized and held the First World Landslide Forum in 2008 and the Second World Landslide Forum in 2011, and recognized 15 World Centres of Excellence on Landslide Risk Reduction. A 10th anniversary conference was held on 17–20 January at the facility in which ICL’s founding meeting had been held. This conference was jointly organized by ICL and ICL-supporting organizations. During the conference, the ICL Strategic Plan 2012–2021: to create a safer geo-environment—was developed and adopted. This strategic plan accompanies this preface.

The Second World Landslide Forum, Rome, 2011 and the Third World Landslide Forum, Beijing, 2014

The Second World Landslide Forum was held at the headquarters of Food and Agriculture Organization of the United Nations on 3–9 October 2011 in Rome, Italy. The Third World Landslide Forum (WLF3) is to be held at the China National Convention Center in Beijing, China from 2 to 6 June 2014. This article first outlines the aims and background of the World Landslide Forums, reports on the Second World Landslide Forum in Rome, and then announces the plans for the Third World Landslide Forum in Beijing. Finally, it calls for contributions for the organization of WLF3 and participation in the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL) and the International Programme on Landslides.

Observation of shear zone development in ring-shear apparatus with a transparent shear box

Using a new ring-shear apparatus with a transparent shear box and video image analysis system, drained and undrained speed-controlled tests were conducted on coarse-grained silica sands to study the shear-zone formation process in granular materials. Velocity distribution profiles of grains under shear at various stages in the ring shear tests were observed through processing the video image by the Particle Image Velocimetry (PIV) program. Shear-zone thickness and type of shear mode (slide-like or flow-like) during shear were observed. Before reaching peak strength in low-speed and drained condition test, a comparatively major part of the sample in the upper shear box showed a velocity distribution profile of structural deformation and dilatancy behavior. After peak strength, the velocity profile changed into a slide-like mode and thereafter showed almost no change. In higher speed tests with drained and undrained conditions, an almost slide-like mode was observed, compared to low-speed test. Apparent shear-zone thicknesses of high-speed tests are thinner than low-speed tests. Unexpectedly, almost no difference was observed in the shear-zone thickness and mode of shear (slide or flow-like) between drained and undrained tests. This study was conducted as part of the International Programme on Landslides (IPL) M101 “Areal prediction of earthquake and rain induced rapid and long-traveling flow phenomena (APERITIF)” of the International Consortium on Landslides (ICL). These results will contribute to understanding the mechanism of shear-zone development in granular materials as a basic knowledge for disaster risk mitigation of rapid long run-out landslides.