President Milanović Decorates Three Professors of the Faculty of Civil Engineering for their Contribution to Organizing and Conducting the Post-Earthquake Inspections of Buildings

“Today you are being decorated for volunteerism, and not just any kind. Your volunteerism is a special kind of volunteerism – volunteerism at a difficult time and in a profession that is quite commercial. The type and amount of work you have dedicated to a common cause is unique and unprecedented. It is your own initiative and something that is not often seen because, fortunately, difficult events such as the earthquake are few and far between,” the President of the Republic Zoran Milanović told the professors of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the University of Zagreb, Prof. Josip Atalić, PhD, Assoc. Prof. Marta Šavor Novak, PhD, and Assoc. Prof. Mario Uroš, PhD, on whom he bestowed the Order of the Croatian Interlace.

“I thank you, on my own behalf and on behalf of the citizens I represent, for something that simply would not have happened without you. And had it not happened, the entire reconstruction process would have been more difficult and we would have had to start from scratch and much later. Your contribution was quantitative, qualitative and human in every way and it certainly deserves the attention of society and the decoration,” President Milanović noted, presenting the decorations.

The President of the Republic Zoran Milanović bestowed the Order of the Croatian Interlace on Prof. Josip Atalić, PhD, for initiating the inspection of the damages and the usability assessment of buildings after the 2020 earthquake when he coordinated the work of more than 1,700 engaged experts as well as the organization of monthly seminars/support consultations to construction engineers during 2020 and 2021, and organizing and conducting the Study for Post-earthquake Reconstruction (Studija za saniranje posljedica potresa).

For defining and establishing a methodology for inspecting buildings after the 2020 earthquake, as well as for creating a methodology for assessing earthquake risk in Croatia in the future, and for organizing the Croatian Conference on Earthquake Engineering, Assoc. Prof. Marta Šavor Novak, PhD, was awarded the Order of the Croatian Interlace.

Assoc. Prof. Mario Uroš, PhD, was awarded the Order of the Croatian Interlace for the inspection and control of the most complex buildings in the Republic of Croatia after the 2020 earthquake, as well as for organizing training courses for engineers to inspect the damages and the usability assessment of buildings after the earthquake, and leading the process of drafting two key manuals and a monograph in the reconstruction process.

Prof. Josip Atalić, PhD, addressed the gathering on behalf of the decorated professors, and, thanking President Milanović for the awards, he expressed his satisfaction that earthquakes are being talked about. “We should not stop talking about earthquakes and that is our mission, one of the major risks in the Republic of Croatia that we have fought against and that we still need to fight against,” said Prof. Atalić, PhD, adding that we still lack a system for such a major risk.

“We refused awards for five years so as not to stand out because the system is large and many people made sacrifices in the field. We did not want to highlight anyone. Five years have passed and we are entering a critical period for the earthquakes to be forgotten. That is our biggest activity now – to act and to transfer know-how to people”, he concluded.

Professors of the Faculty of Civil Engineering of the University of Zagreb, in extremely challenging moments in which the Republic of Croatia found itself in 2020 – the Covid-19 pandemic, the Zagreb and Petrinja earthquakes – gathered their former students and organized them on a voluntary basis, thus putting them at the service of the Republic of Croatia and all its citizens. By coordinating the work of more than 1,700 experts, through an informal platform, they ensured an overview of the usability assessment and damages of buildings, informing citizens and organizing various training courses for experts in this process. Their dedication and organizational skills significantly contributed to the reconstruction and improvement of the safety of buildings in Croatia after the devastating earthquake in 2020, and represent a unique example of professional cooperation and dedication to the common good.

PHOTO: Office of the President of the Republic of Croatia / Tomislav Bušljeta