The RESILIENT project aims to increase awareness of seismic risk in local communities and policymakers in earthquake-prone historic areas of Türkiye, driving vernacular practices for a culture of seismic-prevention led by people’s everyday actions. Resilient links social science, engineering and digital-cultural-heritage skills to predict and reduce tangible and intangible cultural heritage losses due to earthquake events. RESILIENT aims to increase awareness of seismic risk in local communities and policymakers in earthquake-prone historic areas of Turkiye, driving vernacular practices for a culture of seismic-prevention led by people’s everyday actions. A primary goal is to engender an active exchange between academic research and community needs, thereby fostering a pervasive awareness and understanding of seismic risks among local communities/stakeholders, and encouraging their proactive involvement in preserving their cultural legacies. With the support of an extensive international research alliance and the active engagement of heritage custodians and cultural associations, RESILIENT is committed to advancing UN-SDG 11: Sustainable Cities, aiming to instigate substantial progress in seismic risk preparedness and mitigation, effectively protecting Türkiye's precious cultural heritage. 

The project aims to accelerate the industrial application of an innovative low-cost construction technique for the sustainable design and retrofit of masonry structures in both developed (UK) and developing countries. Unreinforced masonry constructions represent a significant percentage of existing and newly designed residential buildings worldwide. These structures generally exhibit a low capability to withstand lateral loading generated by natural events, which may lead to catastrophic failures, causing enormous life and economic losses. Retrofitting methodologies based on the application of external layers like the “Splint-and-Bandage” method used seismic retrofitting masonry buildings in Nepal can represent effective solutions. This project aims to implement this research towards an optimised structural system focusing on reducing carbon emissions and minimising material usage. This will be achieved through small-scale experiments, the development of design procedures, and the implementation of optimised building prototypes to be presented to UK industrial partners and internationally. Contact: Dr Bartolomeo Panto