Landslides pose a growing threat to people, infrastructure, and ecosystems, especially in hilly and mountainous regions. With climate change increasing the frequency and severity of these natural hazards and more communities expanding into vulnerable areas, the need for risk mitigation has never been greater.
While the primary goal is to reduce risk, modern solutions must also meet growing expectations for sustainability — offering lower carbon footprints, minimizing environmental impact, and ensuring long-term resilience. A robust decision-making process must account for a wide range of factors, including the reliability, feasibility, and suitability of each measure within its specific socio-economic and environmental context.
LARiMiT – Landslide Risk Mitigation Toolbox - is a digital decision-support tool developed to help practitioners manage landslide risks in the early stages of landslide risk management. It offers a structured, expert-reviewed catalogue of over 70 risk mitigation measures, tailored to a wide range of landslide types.
The catalogue includes both conventional structural solutions (e.g. drainage systems, retaining walls, and check dams) and Nature-based Solutions (NbS) like soil bioengineering, reforestation, and the use of natural materials for slope stabilization.
Each measure is assessed and rated by a panel of experts from academia and practice, offering users an informed basis for comparing and selecting appropriate interventions. The LARiMiT web portal guides users through a step-by-step process based on a built-in Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP). Users can input site-specific parameters related to a particular landslide case, indicate their priorities and preferences, and receive a ranked list of the most suitable mitigation options tailored to their scenario. This structured and interactive approach promotes more transparent, informed, and sustainable decision-making in landslide-prone areas.
To date, LARiMiT has been primarily used for educational purposes within academia to support teaching and research in landslide risk management. However, its potential goes far beyond the academic. LaRIMiT is well positioned to serve as a preliminary decision-support tool for a wide range of stakeholders, such as public authorities, local and regional governments, homeowner associations, insurance providers, and private-sector construction or infrastructure companies involved in projects in landslide-prone areas.
The pre-commercialization project for the LARiMiT tool, carried out in 2024–2025, aimed to prepare the tool for broader market adoption.
The project has achieved several objectives. The primary objective was to assess the commercial potential of LARiMiT, exploring viable financial models and strategies for long-term sustainability.
In addition, the project aimed to identify target customers and user groups at both national and international levels, including understanding the needs of public agencies, local governments, and private sector involved in landslide risk management.
As an outcome of the project, LARiMiT was actively promoted through several outreach activities, including presentations within key industry groups, start-ups and distribution of informational materials at major international conferences. LARiMiT was presented and used within the Climate Change Adaptation working group of the European Large Geotechnical Institute Platform (ELGIP) for assessing the climate-adaptivity of several landslide risk mitigation measures present in the toolbox. This work resulted in a conference paper published in the proceeding of the International Symposium on Geotechnical Safety and Risk (ISGSR, Oslo, August 2025). Additionally, flyers were distributed during major events such as the European Conference on Soil Mechanics and Geotechnical Engineering (ECSMGE, Lisbon, September 2024) and the European Geosciences Union General Assembly (EGU, Vienna, April 2025).
As part of its educational outreach, the LaRiMiT tool was integrated into the PhD school on LAndslide Risk Assessment and Mitigation (LARAM) and in the postgraduate course “Sustainable Approaches for Landslide Risk Mitigation and Soil Improvement,” coordinated by NGI within the GEOMME partnership program involving Norway, South Korea, and Japan. The web tool was very well received by the students, helping to extend its international reach and increasing the likelihood that future professionals will adopt it in their careers. Another key focus of the project was advancing the technical development of the tool, enhancing its usability, responsiveness, and overall user experience.
Together, these efforts helped position LARiMiT for successful positioning it as a viable toolbox to be deployed in the early phase of landslide risk management.
The pre-commercialization project for LaRiMiT has achieved outcomes by identifying target customer groups nationally and internationally, and exploring suitable financing mechanisms to support commercialization. Potential Customers for LARiMiT span public authorities, infrastructure managers, insurance companies, private construction firms, and academic institutions. Key users include local and regional governments, national agencies like Norway’s NVE and SVV, and entities managing infrastructure in landslide-prone areas, many of whom need easy-to-use tools without requiring geotechnical expertise.
LARiMiT offers tailored value propositions: for small municipalities and homeowner associations, it provides access to over 70 expert-rated mitigation measures and educational resources, enabling cost-effective, proactive landslide risk management. For example, a small municipality used LARiMiT to implement terracing that significantly reduced landslide risks. For private consultants and smaller construction companies, the tool offers advanced site-specific analysis and GIS integration, supporting precise and sustainable project planning. One consulting firm designed a hybrid solution combining rock sheds and vegetation stabilization using LARiMiT’s features. For academic institutions and researchers, LARiMiT delivers a comprehensive database and analytical tools to support innovative research and collaboration. A university used the tool to study nature-based solutions, influencing national mitigation policies. Details about the potential customers of LaRiMiT can be found in the “Results report”. Revenue models proposed consisted in freemium model implementation, license fee approach, subscription plans or enterprise solutions. However, these models were not tested. On the other hand, other models not expecting high revenues were explored. For example, it was discussed to include LaRiMiT into existing commercial software (e.g. Mitigrate) for flood risk mitigation, by adding a module on landslide risk. With this approach, mitigrate would sell the product and acts as lead generator, recommending NGI for the feasibility study and the detailed design of the measures. Another approach was to integrate LaRiMiT as a commercial tool accessible via the EcorisQ Association only from members of the association. This could still guarantee that LaRiMiT belongs to NGI but in the meantime a budget can be set-aside every year to pay NGI’s employees to develop the model. Finally, the sponsors model was explored, consisting in engaging beneficiaries or sponsors who would contribute a yearly fee in exchange for having their logo displayed on the website. LaRiMiT has raised awareness of structural landslide mitigation measures and promoted the adoption of sustainable nature-based solutions (NbS). By increasing exposure to the tool, it is expected that future practitioners will be more environmentally aware and better equipped to apply sustainable approaches.
