In Memory of Sarri
In memory of José María Sarriegi (1970-2018)
Our colleague and friend José María Sarriegi sadly passed away on 9th December 2018 following a tragic accident.
We are thinking of his family, his team at TECNUN and his students with deepest sympathy and wish them strength at this profoundly sad time.
José María Sarriegi, or ‘Sarri’, as we knew him, co-ordinated the Smart Mature Resilience project from 2015-2018, which became a formally recognised ‘success story’, in close collaboration with the SMR project partners and reaching cities and scientists across Europe and beyond.
Sarri was an exceptional person and professional, motivating and encouraging the group with empathy and patience and creating a spirit of trust and respect. Sarri was an expert and champion of city resilience, and his motivation, conviction and commitment resonated far beyond those lucky enough to work with him.
We wish Sarri’s family and team resilience in the face of this shocking tragedy and are grateful to have known him. He will be sadly missed.
In his honour, the Fundación Aon Spain and the Catastrophe Observatory have created the “Jose Maria Sarriegi Award” for the best academic research article on topics related to disaster management that has been published in the previous two years in a specialized journal. The application deadline this year is 15th September. See https://fundacionaon.es/jose-maria-sarriegi-award/
This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement no. 653569.