The IdroGEO web platform: an innovative tool for landslide hazard and risk communication in Italy

Effective communication on natural hazards is essential for building resilient communities, reducing risk and economic losses. Traditional outreach methods often struggle to engage diverse audiences, bridge the gap between science and practice, and facilitate informed decision-making.

In Italy, where over 684,000 landslides are recorded, 1.28 million inhabitants, 582,000 families, 742,000 buildings (4% of the total amount), 75,000 industrial and service facilities, and 14,000 cultural heritage sites are exposed to landslide risk, enhancing public awareness is a critical societal challenge.

The IdroGEO platform (https://idrogeo.isprambiente.it) was developed by ISPRA in 2020 to address the challenge of communication and dissemination of information on landslides and floods in Italy. IdroGEO is an innovative, easy to use, free access, open data, open source, and multilingual web application (IT, EN, FR, DE) recently enhanced with new data and tools within the GeoSciences IR research infrastructure financed by European Union NextGenerationEU. IdroGEO allows you to view, query, download, and share maps, data and reports of the Italian Landslide Inventory, national landslide and flood hazard maps, risk indicators and in situ landslide monitoring systems. The main users are decision-makers, urban and land use planners of central and local public administrations, researchers, rail and road companies, banks, insurance companies, professionals, and citizens.

IdroGEO has been built with a responsive web design approach to ensure usability and satisfaction on various devices, from minimum to maximum display size. This was particularly challenging due to the complexity of the data to be visualized on an interface user-friendly and understandable for a general audience.

Among the latest developed tools, the “AI-powered Virtual assistant” engages users in natural language dialogue, providing tailored explanations and answering questions about landslide and flood risks. The “Check the hazard” tool allows citizens and companies to obtain basic level information on landslide and flood hazards in a 500 m buffer area from their home, economic or productive activity, or a place of interest subject of a future investment. The “Scenario calculation” tool returns the elements exposed to landslides and floods on a polygon drawn on the map. These tools are designed not only to inform but also to actively involve users in understanding risk, thereby narrowing the gap between perceived and real risk. With over 305,000 users and 17 million page views since its launch, IdroGEO has demonstrated significant public engagement, including nearly 30% of traffic from mobile devices.

Within the RESILIENT Project “Risk Evaluation and Smart Implementation of Landslide monItoring by citizen Engagement and New Technologies” funded by Fondazione Cariplo, IdroGEO platform will be used for the involvement of local communities through citizen science initiatives, to improve the dissemination of hazard and risk information, increase the community awareness and promote proactive risk reduction strategies. IdroGEO exemplifies how digital innovation can transform hazard communication, foster inclusive engagement, and contribute to building a more resilient society.