ABSTRACT
Modern societies developed an elaborate system of critical infrastructures (CIs) to address essential human needs. Understanding and quantifying the resilience of these infrastructures is crucial for identifying potential risks that could disrupt their operation and to assess the effectiveness of potential mitigation options. Recently, Nature-Based Solutions (NBS) have attracted broad attention in this context. Model frameworks are essential to assess their effectiveness against adverse events across a broad range of initial conditions and disaster intensities.
This contribution presents a graph-based modelling approach aimed to provide a comprehensive understanding of the resilience of CIs disturbed by natural disasters. It quantifies failure cascades and restoration periods. Based on work of the Horizon Europe project NBSInfra, the susceptibility of two study regions against flash floods threatening the local CIs is explored. The simulation results enable a comparison of the overall region’s resilience with and without NBS, highlighting the benefits of strategically implemented NBS.
