Seismic Hazard is a critical issue for CEI countries but often little known. Through IDASH, the Know-how Providers (KP) equip the Know-how Beneficiaries (KB) with the tools to assess the national seismic potential, sharing knowledge and best practices via cross-border exchanges. This shifts territorial thinking and helps decision-makers reduce future impacts on population, heritage, and economies, aiding EU integration. IDASH focuses on earthquake geology, paleoseismology, and earthquake geodesy, disciplines rarely used in Western Balkans (first use in Croatia 2020 Petrinja fault) to define seismic hazard, earthquake frequency, and ground motions. The recognition and characterization of seismogenic faults is critical for SHA as earthquakes occur repeatedly in time on the same faults (e.g., Cinti et al., 2019; Jamšek Rupnik et al., 2024). Knowing fault locations, sizes, and rupture frequency is key to forecasting seismicity in an area. It also enables targeted highrate GNSS observation which can significantly strengthen early warning systems. In particular, Bosnia and Herzegovina and Montenegro comprise potentially seismogenic faults that have essentially not been documented or evaluated in light of modern seismotectonic approaches. Fault knowledge integration in SHA applications is a relatively new approach in Europe, still uncommon for global hazard modelling (e.g., Scotti et al., 2021). Extending the observational window of past events, fault-based SHA improves input data quality enabling advanced applications such as time-dependent models, fault interactions and multi-fault rupture modelling, and the use of physics-based earthquake simulators. The approach refines the expected epicentral locations of future earthquakes, reducing epistemic uncertainties in ground motion models. Data on active faults also underpin fault displacement hazard evaluation with important engineering applications (e.g., Valentini et al., 2025). IDASH Partners (IP) are in the CEI region. Applicant is the Istituto Nazionale di Geofisica e Vulcanologia (INGV) of Italy that is also a KP. Other KP are: University of Chieti - Pescara (UniCH) - Italy, Geological Survey of Croatia (HGI), Geological Survey of Slovenia (GeoZS). These institutions shared know-how transfer, integration and cooperation in the aftermath of the 2020 Petrinja earthquake in Croatia, and worked in excellent synergy. INGV and HGI also have an ongoing MOU. The KB are: the Institute of Hydrometeorology and Seismology of Montenegro (IHMS), the University of Banja Luka (UNIBL). IDASH plans to involve additional participants from non-Partner Institutions of the KB States (e.g., Univ. of Montenegro, Geol. Survey of Montenegro) in specific activities, selected by their research interests and motivations. The IP designed the project to meet the KB real needs: - improve knowledge of seismogenic faults in their countries, - enhance geodetic fault monitoring, - improve data analysis for SHA. The KB are fully committed to IDASH implementation, e.g., responsibility for some activity. The main IDASH objectives are: Objective A: provide KB with the theoretical and practical basis of the different disciplines and approaches; deepen training on techniques, procedures for seismogenic fault recognition and characterization in time and space. Activities 2, 3, 5. month 2-12. Objective B: provide KB the theoretical and practical basis to integrate faults into SHA. Activities 2, 3, 4, 5. month 2-18. Objective C: share know-how with civil society, open perspective for the future, perform project publicity. Activities 0, 3, 4, 6, 7. month 7-20. To meet these objectives, we envision the following activities: online thematic lectures,
virtual meetings, two hands-on workshops (WS) on field training for fault recognition and best practices characterization, and on integrating faults into SHA (details in Activities and workplan). Activity status and participant self-assessment (e.g., satisfaction questionnaires) will verify IDASH met each objective. Because SHA is tied to a territory, IDASH focuses on the broad KB countries where to exemplify data analysis, procedures, and best practices in fault recognition, characterization, and integration in SHA. Special attention will be given to the test case of 1969 Banja Luka earthquake epicentral area (Bosnia and Herzegovina). IDASH’s expected results are: boost CEI “EU candidate States” capacity to collect and process data for modern, reliable SHA aligned with European standards, starting from seismogenic fault recognition and characterization; better awareness of local/regional seismic potential; improve national and cross-border actions to reduce earthquake impact through reliable SHA estimates; expand opportunities to integrate with European activities. Additional benefits: input for microzonation, and for seismic source modelling essential for Eurocode 8 updates for earthquake-resistant design.
virtual meetings, two hands-on workshops (WS) on field training for fault recognition and best practices characterization, and on integrating faults into SHA (details in Activities and workplan). Activity status and participant self-assessment (e.g., satisfaction questionnaires) will verify IDASH met each objective. Because SHA is tied to a territory, IDASH focuses on the broad KB countries where to exemplify data analysis, procedures, and best practices in fault recognition, characterization, and integration in SHA. Special attention will be given to the test case of 1969 Banja Luka earthquake epicentral area (Bosnia and Herzegovina). IDASH’s expected results are: boost CEI “EU candidate States” capacity to collect and process data for modern, reliable SHA aligned with European standards, starting from seismogenic fault recognition and characterization; better awareness of local/regional seismic potential; improve national and cross-border actions to reduce earthquake impact through reliable SHA estimates; expand opportunities to integrate with European activities. Additional benefits: input for microzonation, and for seismic source modelling essential for Eurocode 8 updates for earthquake-resistant design.