(Left to right): Afroditi Papageorgiou, Nicolaos Theodossiou, Zisis Mallios, Eleni Fotopoulou, Yiannis N. Kontos, Konstantinos Plataridis, Lysandros Katsifarakis, Diamantis Karakatsanis, Charalampos Stavridis
The research team at Aristotle University of Thessaloniki’s Department of Civil Engineering is actively involved in the Europe-LAND project under the Horizon Europe framework. The team integrates modern techniques like Artificial Intelligence, Machine Learning and Optimization to drive research and innovate in sustainability solutions in their specialties of:
- Hydrology
- Water resources management
- Hydraulic engineering
- Flood resilience
- Climate change
- Sustainability
- Data management
- GIS applications
The AUTh team’s primary goal within the Europe-LAND project is to design, develop, and operate a web-based GIS platform that links current and planned actions to their impacts, considering both current and future land use dynamics.
As leaders of WP 6, they are responsible for developing this platform, built on the Leaflet library and incorporating a wide range of open-source data from organizations like the Copernicus Land Monitoring Service, ESDAC, and ERA5. This platform is intended as a comprehensive, one-stop-shop online resource for land use and land cover information, offering interactive tools that allow users to engage, explore data, and identify key drivers of land use changes.
Additionally, the AUTh team collaborates with other work packages to create tools and models that support sustainable land-use strategies. The team also plays a vital role in engaging stakeholders, supporting policy initiatives, and providing practical solutions for climate change adaptation and mitigation, ensuring the project’s results are accessible and valuable for policymakers and other stakeholders.
The AUTh team consists of professors, senior post-doc researchers, PhD candidates, laboratory teaching staff, and experienced administrative personnel. The AUTh team is led by Professor Nicolaos Theodossiou, Chair of the United Nations’ Sustainable Development Solutions Network (SDSN) – Black Sea, whose research emphasizes water resources management, environmental protection, and restoration.
- Associate Professor Zisis Mallios specializes in informatics applications for water resources management.
- Senior researcher (post-doc) Yiannis Kontos focuses on integrated water resources management, using AI, machine learning, and optimization techniques (metaheuristics), focusing on groundwater resources, including geothermal aquifers.
- The team also includes four PhD candidates:
- Charis Stavridis is a civil engineer specializing in participatory approaches, citizen science, and sustainability, contributing primarily to WP3 and co-designing the Living Labs.
- Konstantinos Plataridis is a geologist studying water resources management and land use change using AI, developing the web-GIS Europe-LAND platform.
- Diamantis Karakatsanis is a civil engineer researching optimization through metaheuristic techniques and AI in water resources management, supporting the development of the Europe-LAND platform.
- Lysandros Katsifarakis is a civil engineer responsible for organizing the Living Lab process.
- Dr. Eleni Fotopoulou and Afroditi Papageorgiou are members of the teaching and technical staff of the Department of Civil Engineering of AUTh. Their contribution is to support the development of the project and to coordinate all financial issues.