The team

Rethinking natural risk decision-making 

a philosophical perspective for more sustainable management.

The SAFER project was established at Politecnico di Milano to address a critical challenge: how to make more informed, equitable, and sustainable decisions in natural risk management. Landslides, floods, earthquakes, and droughts reflect the complex interplay between the environment, society, and human choices.  

SAFER bridges philosophy, engineering, and the social sciences to develop decision-making tools that are more effective, transparent, and ethically grounded.

Principal Investigator

Malvina Ongaro

Malvina Ongaro focuses on the philosophy of risk at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering of Politecnico di Milano. She earned her PhD from the University of Eastern Piedmont (UPO), where her research centered on the relationship between decision-making and uncertainty. Malvina developed her expertise in the philosophy of science with an MSc from the London School of Economics and has further enriched her perspective through visiting fellowships in Rotterdam, Helsinki, and Stavanger.

Mentor

Daniele Chiffi

Daniele Chiffi è professore associato di Logica e Filosofia della Scienza al Politecnico di Milano. La sua ricerca si incentra principalmente sulla filosofia del rischio, l’epistemologia e la pragmatica formali, le logiche non-classiche, la filosofia della scienza e della tecnologia, e la filosofia della medicina. La sua competenza si estende però anche alla normatività e all’incertezza, alla filosofia del linguaggio, all’etica della scienza e della tecnologia, e alla filosofia della città. Il suo ultimo libro, Uncertainty, Innovation and the City: Philosophical Explorations (Edward Elgar), è scritto insieme a Stefano Moroni.

Postdoc ​Researcher

Gabriele Cerati ​

Gabriele Cerati is a Research Fellow at the Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering. He earned a PhD in Analysis of Social and Economic Processes from the University of Milano-Bicocca. For years, he has collaborated on sociological research concerning health, working conditions, and digitalization with the University of Milan, the University of Milano-Bicocca, public institutions, and non-profit organizations. Within the SAFER project, he conducts qualitative interviews with experts and stakeholders to analyze decision-making practices and processes from the perspective of those involved.

Research Team

Francesco Ballio

Full Professor of Hydraulic Engineering

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (Politecnico di Milano)

Daniela Molinari

Associate Professor of Hydraulic Engineering

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (Politecnico di Milano)

Roberto Paolucci

Full Professor of Structural Engineering

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (Politecnico di Milano)

Lorenza Petrini

Full Professor of Structural Mechanics

Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering (Politecnico di Milano)