Eurac Research

The European Academy of Bozen/Bolzano (EURAC) is a private, non-profit research centre in South Tyrol (Italy), founded in 1992. Our 14 research institutes and centres with more than 400 staff are supported by a number of service departments ranging from ICT over science communication to grant and project management as well as contractual and reporting issues.

Our research addresses the greatest challenges facing us in the future: people need health, energy, well-functioning political and social systems and an intact environment. These are complex questions, and we are seeking the answers in the interaction between many different disciplines. In so doing, our research work embraces three major themes: regions fit for living in, diversity as a life-enhancing feature, a healthy society.

To undertake research is to challenge conventional ways of thinking and to transcend limitations. Our open enterprise culture and flat organisational structure allow this investigative spirit to develop in the best possible interdisciplinary way, and with curiosity, enthusiasm, courage and perseverance we highlight problems from all possible angles and thereby arrive at exceptional solutions.

The aim of our work is to improve the future life of people. We often develop concrete solutions for regional problems which can then be applied elsewhere. We continually strive to open new paths with top quality research work, geared to the needs of people.

We are linked to other research networks all over the world and have partners in more than 50 countries on five continents. We collaborate with international organisations such as the Alpine and Carpathian Conventions, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP), the United Nations University (UNU) and the United Nations Industrial Development Organization (UNIDO) along with several space agencies.

Our Institute for Earth Observation integrates remote sensing techniques with interdisciplinary approaches to monitor and to understand key environmental dynamics in mountain regions and related climate and disaster risks. The research fields and projects address the most current and pressing societal challenges in mountain environments, such as:

• the role of mountains as water towers
• sustainable management of natural resources (agriculture, forestry, nature protection)
• risk management in the context of natural hazards and climate change