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The GEM Foundation continues to expand its global outreach through active participation in international conferences, training workshops, and governance meetings. These engagements highlight GEM's ongoing efforts to advance seismic risk reduction, strengthen collaboration with key global partners, and contribute to the development of innovative risk assessment tools. In this section, we bring you the latest updates from GEM’s involvement in these various events.

GEM joins Overture Maps Foundation

The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation became a contributing member of the Overture Maps Foundation on 7 November 2025, following the acceptance of its application. Overture Maps Foundation is a collaborative initiative that brings together organisations to develop and maintain open, interoperable global map datasets, including building and infrastructure data.

As a non-profit member, GEM will participate in Overture’s working groups and task forces, supporting collaboration on global building datasets relevant to seismic exposure modelling. The membership aligns with GEM’s ongoing work to improve the quality, consistency and transparency of global exposure data used in seismic risk assessment.

Through this engagement, GEM aims to contribute to and benefit from shared efforts to advance open geospatial data for risk-informed decision-making.

PHIVOLCS becomes first information partner for GEM Learning Centre

The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation has received formal consent from the Philippine Institute of Volcanology and Seismology (PHIVOLCS) to feature publicly available information from its official website on GEM’s forthcoming Learning Centre.

The Philippines will serve as one of the pilot country pages for the Learning Centre, which is being developed as a web-based educational platform to share earthquake science, hazard information, preparedness resources and examples of disaster risk reduction practice. PHIVOLCS will be acknowledged as an information and contribution partner, with all materials properly cited and linked to their original sources.

The collaboration marks an initial step in GEM’s plans to expand accessible, science-based learning resources for diverse audiences.

 First OpenQuake Engine certifications awarded

The Global Earthquake Model (GEM) Foundation has issued the first OpenQuake Engine certifications, marking the launch of a new accreditation initiative linked to structured OpenQuake training. The certification page went live on 10 October 2025, providing a dedicated platform for issuing and verifying credentials.

Certificates were awarded on 12 September 2025 to 17 participants who successfully completed the Scenario Analysis course at the GEM–EGU Summer School on GeoHazards Risk, held from 8 to 12 September 2025 at the University of Aveiro, Portugal. Each certificate is issued with a unique, verifiable URL, allowing participants to reference their certification directly, including on professional profiles such as LinkedIn.

The initiative supports GEM’s efforts to recognise technical competence in the use of OpenQuake tools and to promote consistent and transparent application of seismic hazard and risk methodologies.

OpenQuake training delivered at EDF/CEA

GEM staff delivered an OpenQuake training at EDF/CEA Training in Aix-en-Provence, France, supporting capacity building in seismic hazard and risk assessment. The training was led by Marco Pagani, Head of Seismic Hazards, Michele Simionato, Senior Software Developer, and Christopher Brooks, Seismic Hazard Scientist, who introduced participants to OpenQuake methodologies and workflows relevant to hazard and risk analysis.

The activity forms part of GEM’s ongoing engagement with technical and institutional partners to support the application of open, science-based tools in operational contexts.

GEM expertise shared at IAEA workshop on seismic hazard assessment

GEM participated in the IAEA International Workshop on Seismic Hazard Assessment of Nuclear Installation Sites in Low Seismicity Regions, held in Brussels, Belgium, from 4 to 7 November 2025. The workshop brought together experts to discuss approaches and challenges in assessing seismic hazard for nuclear facilities in regions of low to moderate seismicity.

GEM was represented by Marco Pagani, Head of Seismic Hazards, and Manuela Villani, Senior Seismic Hazard Scientist, who contributed to technical discussions during the training meeting organised by the International Atomic Energy Agency.

EPOS Seismology and Geo-INQUIRE Workshop 2025

GEM participated in the EPOS Seismology and Geo-INQUIRE Workshop 2025: From Big and Novel Datasets to AI for Frontier Seismological Science and Services, held from 24 to 27 November 2025 at the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece. The workshop focused on the use of large and emerging datasets, including artificial intelligence methods, to advance seismological science and services.

GEM was represented by Lana Todorović, Liquefaction and Landslide Modeller, and Vitor Silva, Head of Risk Engineering, who took part in discussions on data-driven approaches and their application to seismic hazard and risk assessment. The workshop was co-organised by EFEHR, ORFEUS and EMSC, with support from the Geo-INQUIRE project.

GEM’s exposure modelling expertise featured at EU Science for Preparedness Conference

GEM participated in the EU Science for Preparedness Conference, held in Turin, Italy, from 4 to 6 November 2025. The conference brought together experts from science, policy and crisis-response communities to examine how evidence-based knowledge can strengthen Europe’s capacity to anticipate and respond to disasters.

Organised by the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) and the Disaster Risk Management Knowledge Centre (DRMKC) of the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre, the event featured sessions on early-warning systems, impact modelling, exposure mapping and resilience planning.

GEM was represented by Marco Baiguera, Exposure Analyst, who contributed to a session on the Global Human Settlement Layer (GHSL) by presenting GEM’s exposure modelling activities and their relevance for exposure mapping and risk-informed decision-making.

Exposure modelling for global risk assessment presented at Human Planet Forum 2025

GEM participated in the Human Planet Forum 2025, held at the European Commission’s Joint Research Centre in Ispra, Italy, which brought together scientists, policymakers, UN agencies and practitioners to examine how open geospatial data can support disaster risk reduction, sustainability and societal resilience.

Marco Baiguera, Exposure Analyst at GEM, presented how Earth observation datasets are being integrated into GEM’s exposure modelling to support seismic risk assessment. His presentation highlighted recent improvements in estimating building characteristics, increasing the spatial detail of exposure models, and developing scenarios of how populations and structures may evolve over time.

A recording of the presentation is available via the event webcast, starting at 15:15:29.

https://webcast.ec.europa.eu/geo-human-planet-forum-2025-25-11-20

Shake-table demonstration at EUCENTRE attended by GEM staff

GEM staff took part in a technical shake-table demonstration at EUCENTRE, illustrating how buildings respond to strong ground shaking under different structural configurations. The demonstration used EUCENTRE’s six-degree-of-freedom shake table, with a payload capacity of 30 tonnes, to reproduce motions from the 1999 Chi-Chi earthquake (Mw 7.7) in Taiwan.

The exercise highlighted how engineering design choices influence structural behaviour during earthquakes and reinforced the importance of accurate modelling, robust standards and informed decision-making for public safety. The demonstration also provided practical insight into the link between ground motion characteristics and structural response, supporting GEM’s ongoing work in seismic risk assessment and resilience.

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