European Centre on Vulnerability of Industrial and lifelines systems - ECILS
Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje,
Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology, IZIIS,
Todor Aleksandrov, 165, P.O. Box 101
1000 Skopje - Republic of North Macedonia
By resolution (02-211/1 dated 04.02.1997) adopted by the Council of the Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology (IZIIS) and support given by the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Education and Science and the Government of the Republic of Macedonia (1220-469/2 dated 28.01.1997), a centre was established within IZIIS under the title European Centre for Vulnerability of Industrial and Lifeline Systems (ECILS) in March 1997 (21-891/1 dated 06.03.1997).
ECILS is a non-profit organization hosted by Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology, IZIIS
Centre's host organisation: Ss. Cyril and Methodius University in Skopje, Institute of Earthquake Engineering and Engineering Seismology, IZIIS
Structure
As part of IZIIS, ECILS is administrated by IZIIS management and supported by its Scientific Council and all the employees, so the structural organization is identical to that of its host institution.
Objectives
The mandate of ECILS complies with the scientific and development policy of IZIIS, but also with the strategic goals of the EUR-OPA Major Hazard Agreement. Since its establishment (06.03.1997) to date, ECILS has realized numerous activities and projects in the domain of urban risk and vulnerability, natural and man-made hazards, raising of preparedness and response capacities, education and training as well as numerous consulting and professional missions and activities – always with the goal of contributing to the development of a seismically resilient society.
1. Seismic Vulnerability Assessment of the Skopje Old Bazaar (2022-2023)
This joint initiative between ECILS (North Macedonia) and ECPFE (Greece) focuses on advancing methodologies for the seismic assessment and retrofitting of historic masonry structures—key elements of cultural heritage that are highly vulnerable to earthquakes. These efforts address a common European challenge in preserving public-use buildings while ensuring seismic resilience.
2. Seismic Assessment and Retrofitting of Masonry Preserved Structures (2023-2024)
This project, coordinated by the ECPFE Centre, aimed to strengthen collaboration and knowledge-sharing among experts, academics, and decision-makers in seismic assessment and retrofitting of historic masonry structures. These structures, widely used and highly vulnerable to earthquakes, present a common engineering and risk mitigation challenge across Europe. The initiative focused on introducing Greece’s newly developed Code for the Assessment and Structural Interventions of Masonry Structures (KADET), which provides criteria for assessing structural capacity, potential interventions, and redesign after retrofitting.
Workshop 1 (Athens, Greece, September 13, 2023)
Workshop 2 (Skopje, North Macedonia, May 24, 2024)
3. Seismic behaviour of characteristic types of Byzantine Churches in Balkan Region (2024-2025)
This project is coordinated by the ECPFE, with ECILS, the Serbian Security Innovation Center, ECRM, the Croatian Center of Earthquake Engineering, and the Albanian office of Cultural Heritage without Borders serving as partners. It will be carried out in two phases, during 2024 and 2025. The primary objective is to document the vulnerability, seismic performance, structural pathology, and retrofitting measures of representative Byzantine churches. The gathered data will be used to categorize the studied churches, compare similarities and differences across the participating countries, and finally develop a pre-earthquake rapid visual inspection procedure along with a comprehensive restoration strategy.
Joint meeting ECILS-SECPFE (Ohrid, North Macedonia, September 26-27, 2024)
Workshop 1 (Janina, Greece, October 19, 2024)
Workshop 2 (Belgrade, Serbia, October 14, 2025)
It is worthwhile noting that the research conducted within the aforementioned projects involved two doctoral students from IZIIS, who successfully defended their doctoral dissertations in the course of 2024.
Publications
ECILS does not have permanent staff. All professors and researchers employed at IZIIS support and implement ECILS activities. In line with this, the DG ECHO-funded projects listed below are part of the IZIIS portfolio:
UCPM-2024-KAPP; GA –101193586- EMERGE – Rapid Multi-Risk Needs Evaluation and Planning Platform (2025-2027).
UCPM-2022-PP GA 101101255 – ISRA – Integrative strengthening of seismic risk awareness, (2022-2024).
UCPM-2020-PP-AG (Prevention and Preparedness Projects in Civil Protection and Marine Pollution) GA 101004830 – CRISIS - Comprehensive Risk assessment of basic services and transport Infrastructure (2020-2022).
UCPM-2020-KN-AG (Knowledge Network and Evidence-Based Policy) GA 101017950 –L2BR – Learn to be resilient (2021-2022).
