This course provides advanced knowledge and analytical tools for understanding, assessing, and mitigating the stability problems of natural and engineered slopes. Students will explore the physical mechanisms that drive slope instability and learn how to analyze, model, and design effective stabilization strategies. Through a combination of theoretical lectures, case studies, and computational projects, the course trains students to identify the causes of slope failures, predict potential instabilities, and design structural and non-structural countermeasures for landslide risk mitigation. Special emphasis is given to the integration of monitoring data and numerical modeling within the framework of sustainable and resilient land management.

Upon successful completion of the course, students will be able to: • Identify and classify different slope instability mechanisms and their triggering factors; • Select and apply appropriate analytical and numerical methods for slope stability analysis; • Plan and interpret field investigations and monitoring campaigns for slope risk assessment; • Design and evaluate structural mitigation measures, considering both technical performance and environmental sustainability; • Develop and communicate slope hazard assessments, including risk maps and mitigation strategies.

Fundamentals of Hydraulics and Soil Mechanics are required

• Landslide Inventory and Classification: Systematic identification, mapping, and typological classification of landslides. Recognition of key kinematic mechanisms and triggering factors (hydrological, geological, seismic, and anthropogenic). • Monitoring and Data Interpretation: Analysis of monitoring systems integrating geotechnical, geophysical, and remote-sensing technologies. Data processing and interpretation for detecting slope movements and characterizing instability processes. • Slope Stability Analysis: Application of limit equilibrium and numerical methods for assessing slope stability. • Temporal and Probabilistic Prediction: Statistical and mechanical approaches for estimating landslide recurrence, failure probability, and evolution over time. • Dynamic Modelling: Numerical modelling of landslide motion and runout using rheological laws and digital terrain models. Analysis of flow-like movements, debris flow dynamics. • Risk Assessment, Hazard Mapping, and Land-Use Planning: Integrated analysis of hazard, exposure, and vulnerability for the production of quantitative risk maps. • Design of Mitigation and Stabilization Works: Design principles, selection criteria and sizing methods for structural countermeasures, including drainage systems, check dams, and protective barriers.

The course combines lectures, hands-on computer labs, and group design projects. Students will apply theoretical concepts using specialized software to analyze real-world case studies

Lecture notes and slides provided on the course platform. Suggested Textbook: Transportation Research Board, National Academy Press (1996), “Landslides: Investigation and Mitigation.

Slides; Esercitazioni di laboratorio;

Modalita di esame: Prova orale obbligatoria; Elaborato progettuale in gruppo;

Exam: Compulsory oral exam; Group project;

... • Group projects (4 total): each involving numerical analysis or design of slope stabilization solutions, developed during lab sessions and completed independently. • Oral examination: focused on project discussion and theoretical topics. To be admitted to the oral exam, all projects must be completed and submitted on time. The final grade reflects both the quality of the project work and the oral exam performance, assessing technical understanding, analytical ability, and critical reasoning.

Gli studenti e le studentesse con disabilita o con Disturbi Specifici di Apprendimento (DSA), oltre alla segnalazione tramite procedura informatizzata, sono invitati a comunicare anche direttamente al/la docente titolare dell'insegnamento, con un preavviso non inferiore ad una settimana dall'avvio della sessione d'esame, gli strumenti compensativi concordati con l'Unita Special Needs, al fine di permettere al/la docente la declinazione piu idonea in riferimento alla specifica tipologia di esame.