"The aim of the project is to use the complementary expertise of researchers from Latin-American and European Universities working in the area of geo-engineering to contribute to excellence in research, training of postgraduate researchers and the research experience of researchers working in geomechanical aspects of geohazards and climate change. The main focus will be on problems such as earthquakes, landslides and flooding, considering problematic soils and the effect of climate change on soil degradation. The main “tools” to be applied to tackle the problems above are soil modelling and numerical analyses, soil dynamics, mechanics of unsaturated soils and soil improvement techniques. The project is aimed at advancing both experimental and numerical studies of soils submitted to mechanical, hydraulic and thermal coupled actions via joint research activities between the partners. The project is based on ongoing research programmes and research interest at the Universities forming the consortium, taking into account the complementary expertise between the partners. The staff exchanges funded by the IRSES programme will be crucial for Early Stage Researches (ESRs) to expand and enhance their research knowledge during their stays at the partner institutions, which will be complemented by the knowledge transfer activities. They will also benefit from mentoring by ERs and the research visits by Experienced Researches (ERs) at their home institutions. The planned bi-annual schools and workshops are crucial project activities oriented to human resource development and dissemination of the research performed within the consortium. The programmed activities are oriented to develop and upgrade the expertise of the researches involved in the exchange programme in the complex multiphysics problems described above, and to share their local geo-engineering knowledge and innovation."