Founded in 1999, CERU's organisational management structure is composed of 3 parts:
The director’s board
The executive committee
The technical and scientific committee (steering committee)
President: Mónica Amaral Ferreira (Instituto Superior Técnico, University of Lisboa) Vice-Presidents: Alexandra Carvalho (LNEC -Laboratório Nacional de Engenharia Civil), Manuel João Ribeiro (ISEC Lisboa - Instituto Superior de Educação e Ciências) Secretary: Luís Carvalho (Câmara Municipal da Amadora) Treasurer: Cristina Oliveira (Escola Superior de Tecnologia do Barreiro, Instituto Politécnico de Setúbal)
Objectives
Definition of a unified strategy and a common framework to coordinate the various activities carried out in technical and scientific research in the field of urban risks, while supporting and promoting study and research projects in this area.
Main activities and latest achievements
2025
On June 5, 2025, Verlingue Portugal hosted the event "Civil Protection and the Insurance Sector Together for Seismic Risk Management." The initiative brought together professionals from the insurance industry to discuss strategies for assessing and mitigating seismic risk. Mónica Amaral Ferreira was the invited keynote speaker, with a presentation entitled "Mitigate, Manage, and Quantify Seismic Risk”. The event was attended by 100 participants from various insurance companies (https://www.verlingue.pt).
As part of the Escola Ciência Viva project at the Pavilhão do Conhecimento – Ciência Viva Science Centre, Mónica Amaral Ferreira was invited to participate in the “Meeting with the Scientist” session to talk about earthquakes and tsunamis. The session took place on May 29, 2025, and was attended by around 50 students from the 3rd and 4th grades (https://www.pavconhecimento.pt).
2024
Within the scope of the Lisbon Microzonation Project, communication presented at the ECSMGE 2024: XVIII European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering:
Oliveira, L., Gomes, R.C., Amoroso, S., Paglilaroli, A., Teves-Costa, P. (2024). Numerical modelling of the seismic site effects in Lisbon: role of buried and surficial morphology. In Proceedings of the XVIII ECSMGE 2024: Geotechnical Engineering Challenges to Meet Current and Emerging Needs of Society (1st ed.). CRC Press. (https://doi.org).
Within the scope of the Resist Program (Lisbon Municipality):
Participation of Luis Matias and Paula Teves-Costa in the training session “Sustainable and Resilient Tourism” promoted by the Urbanism Academy of the Lisbon City Council. Lisbon, November 20, 2024.
Publications
Publications in proceedings of international conferences:
Oliveira L, Gomes RC, Teves-Costa P (2023). Integração de dados geotécnicos, geofísicos e geológicos para estudos de microzonagem sísmica: o caso de Lisboa. 18º Congresso Nacional de Geotecnia, Évora, 14-17 de maio 2023, 10p.
Oliveira L, Teves-Costa, P Gomes RC (2023). Caracterização da velocidade das ondas de corte nas formações geológicas de Lisboa. 18º Congresso Nacional de Geotecnia, Évora, 14-17 de maio 2023, 10p.
Antunes AC, Teves-Costa P, Ferrigni F, Matias L. Comunicar para prevenir - Projeto LoKSAND. Conferência Internacional de Riscos Urbanos (ICUR2022), 23-25 junho 2022, Lisboa, Portugal.
Matias L, Teves-Costa P, Ferreira MA (2022). Promover a Sensibilização para o Risco Sísmico em Portugal Continental com a Exposição sobre o sismo de 28 de fevereiro de 1969. Conferência Internacional de Riscos Urbanos (ICUR2022), 23-25 junho 2022, Lisboa, Portugal.
Publications in peer reviewed international journals:
Oliveira L, Gomes RC, Teves-Costa P. (2023) Contribution to the seismic microzonation of Lisbon based on the integration of geological, geophysical, and geotechnical data. Soil Dynamics and Earthquake Engineering 171, 107965
