This course is part of the Minor program in Mountain Engineering, which addresses the issues of technological and sustainable development in mountain environments, with a focus on solutions for managing natural resources and on the anthropic systems related to them. This course introduces the topic of water and energy resources, assessing their availability and their efficient and sustainable use, including the introduction of energy communities. The course also covers the fields of climate change, of the risks in mountain environments (hydraulic, glacial, landslides and rockfall risks), and of the measures to mitigate these risks.

Students will acquire knowledge on sustainable and efficient use of natural resources. Students will learn principles and methods about the quantification of natural resources (water and energy),the analysis of environmental variables and will explore practical solutions applied in real case studies. They are expected to put into practice the theory to solve real engineering problems and they are expected to collect, analyze and use environmental information to develop complex analyses on availability and use of natural resources. Students will learn to collaborate in a complex and multidisciplinary context, to operate in teams, to organize the work and to present it to stakeholders.

The Minor is open to every master’s student of the Politecnico di Torino; students with any background or curricula are welcome. Basic analytical and numerical skills are required, as well as capabilities of data processing and results presentations. A reasonable knowledge of the Italian language is needed for field work and interactions with professionals. Some previous mountain experience is an asset.

The course is organized into 2-CFU modules, which explore the following topics: • Water availability in current and future conditions, impact of climate change, quantification of resources. Storage systems. Resources for high-altitude use, artificial snowmaking. • Energy-related resources assessment and management in the mountains. Focus on hydropower production, principles and challenges of different energy sources, energy communities. • Water-related risks and extremes events, flood risk, peri-glacial risks, risk from snowmaking accumulation and avalanches. Monitoring and early-warning systems. • Analysis and overview of the stability problems of rock slopes in mountainside areas with na special focus on landslide and rock fall problems. Analysis of the design aspects of devices to be used for risk mitigation and for the risk management.

The course is organized into 2-CFU modules. Each module includes evening lectures with video recording, practical exercises, partly on site and partly online, and one full-day field trip, for a technical visit or external activity, to be held on Saturdays. A tentative schedule of activities and trips will be provided at the beginning of the course.

During the course, bibliographic materials such as handouts, scientific articles, or book chapters will be provided, in addition to the slides and recordings of scheduled video-lectures.

Slides; Dispense; Video lezioni dell’anno corrente;

Modalita di esame: Elaborato progettuale in gruppo;

Exam: Group project;

... During the course, students will work in groups to develop a multidisciplinary project which will be presented and discussed with the lecturers. The positive evaluation will grant the course completion. The entire Minor program will be considered completed if all three courses are successfully completed.

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.