Foresight session 3 - Prioritizing Critical Transport Infrastructure and Operations for Resilient Connectivity
Wednesday, March 11
11:30
-
13:00
Chair: Stephanie Haensel, Head of Planning and Coordination Unit - Deutscher Wetterdienst / Chair of UNECE WP.5/GE.3, Germany
Room: Room 5
Transport systems are essential for economic activity and human well-being, enabling the movement of people and goods to markets, services, and destinations. This functionality depends on both linear infrastructure (roads, railways, inland waterways) and nodal infrastructure (ports, airports, terminals), as well as the operations that take place on them.
When infrastructure or operations are disrupted or degraded—whether by natural hazards or man-made events—the consequences can be severe, limiting access to markets and essential services. While transport assets are designed to withstand hazards up to certain thresholds, extreme events or aging infrastructure can exceed these limits. Ensuring resilience across all assets at all times is neither technically nor economically feasible.
This workshop will explore how to prioritize investments and actions by identifying which infrastructure elements and operations are most critical to maintaining acceptable service levels. Participants will discuss approaches for assessing criticality—the relative importance of assets based on the consequences of their failure—and how this understanding can guide cost-effective resilience strategies.
- Welcome and session introduction
- Presentations
- Panel discussion - Assessing Criticality of Transport Networks and Assets: From Methodology to Action
- Conclusion
- Organization
Welcome and session introduction
• Stephanie Haensel, Head of Planning and Coordination Unit - Deutscher Wetterdienst / Chair of UNECE WP.5/GE.3, Germany
• Emma Ferranti, Associate Professor - University of Birmingham
Presentations
Integrating asset and route criticality into a Multiple Criteria Decision Making (MCDM) framework for Climate Risk Assessment of Transportation networks
• Mr. Nicolas Cork, University of Birmingham
Criticality analysis for federal transportation routes in Germany
• Mr. Marvin Stell, Sustainable Road Construction and Road Maintenance, Federal Highway and Transport Research Institute, Germany
RERA project - criticality focus
• Mr. Francisco Cabrera, Deputy Head of Operations and Safety, UIC
Application of multi-criteria analysis of the criticality of transport assets
• Prof Adonis Velegrakis, Professor, University of Aegean
Panel discussion - Assessing Criticality of Transport Networks and Assets: From Methodology to Action
• Moderator: Dr Stephanie Haensel, Head of Planning and Coordination Unit, Deutscher Wetterdienst, Germany, Chair UNECE Group of Experts on Assessment of Climate Change Impacts and Adaptation for Inland Transport, (WP.5/GE.3)
• Panellist : Mr. Karim Selouane, CEREMA
• Panellist : Dr Emma Ferranti, University of Birmingham
• Panellist : Prof Adonis Velegrakis, University of Aegean
• Panellist : Dr Wei Bi, ETH Zurich
Conclusion
• Stephanie Haensel, Head of Planning and Coordination Unit - Deutscher Wetterdienst / Chair of UNECE WP.5 - GE.3, Germany
Organization
Session Organiser: Lukasz Wyrowski, Economic Affairs Officer, UNECE
Session Secretary: Lukasz Wyrowski, Economic Affairs Officer, UNECE