Chair of Erosion and Torrent Control

Chair: Chair of Erosion and Torrent Control

Head of Chair: Dr. Tijana Vulević

Deputy Head of Chair: Dr. Aleksandar Anđelković

Deputy Head of Chair: Dr. Siniša Polovina

Chair Development: 

Higher education in the field of forestry in Serbia started on 12th May 1920 at the Forestry department of the Faculty of Agriculture in Belgrade. Until 1949 there was only one subject related to the problem of erosion and torrents entitled Torrent control, and it was taught by prof. Dr. Ljubivoje Maletić. The subbject was part of the Cabinet for torrential flows control (prof. Maletić) and cultural technique. After the death of prof. Maletić in 1940, the subject was taught by prof. Milan Nešić from the Engineering Faculty. Engineer Dimitrije Petrović was the teaching assisstant. During World War II Faculty of Forestry did not work.
After the war, teaching began in 1945/46. The subject Torrent control was taught by prof. Dr. Sreten Rosić, who became the first dean of the Faculty of Forestry in 1949, when it separated from the Faculty of Agriculture.

Since the academic year 1952/53, the problem of torrential flows and erosion was studied within the subject Erosion and Torrent Control. In 1956 two educational streams were formed: Silvicultural and Forest-industrial stream. Based on the decision of the Executive Council of the Republic, 5 departments were formed in 1960 including the Department of erosion and torrent control. At the Department of erosion and and torrent control, subjects were arranged within two chairs: the Chair of erosion and torrent control and the Chair of forest soil reclamation. Erosion control was taught in the subject Erosion and torrent control during the 4th  semester of the 3rd and 4th year of study, and the subject teacher was prof. Dr. Slobodan Gavrilović, who was head of the Department. The Department got a new name in 1961: Department of erosion and land reclamation.

After prof. Gavrilović retired in 1976 the subject was taken over by prof. Dr. Ljubiša Jevtić the Director of the Institute for Water Management of erodible areas.
After prof. Jevtić retired in 1995 the subject Torrential flows and erosion was given to prof. Dr. Stanimir Kostadinov who was in charge of it until October 2014, when the subject was taken over by prof. Dr. Ratko Ristić.
A new reorganization was created according to the 1998 Law on Higher Education. Another chair, the Chair of Anti-erosion Geotechnics was established in addition to the existing chairs at the Department of erosion control. The subjects Fundamentals of geotechnics in torrent control, Hydrogeology with geomorphology, hydrology and hydraulics, and construction management and mechanization in control works became subjects of this new chair. The subjects Torrential flows and erosion, Design in torrent control, Economics of arrangement of erodible areas and Materials in erosion control works remained at the Chair of torrent and erosion control.

After 5th October 2000, and change of Dean there were also changes in the composition of the chairs. The subjects at the Chair of torrent and erosion control were: Torrential flows and erosion, Hydrology with hydraulics, Engineering in torrent control, Economics of erodible areas arrangement and Organization of construction and machinery in erosion control works as compulsory subjects, and in 2002  a new elective subject  named Sediment management was introduced.

After the passing of the Law on Higher Education in 2005, the Faculty adopted a new curriculum for all educational profiles, based on the principles of the Bologna Declaration. Elective courses were introduced  to all years of study. After that, the Department of torrents and erosion control, at the undergraduate level, consisted of the following subjects: Torrential flows and erosion 1, Torrential flows and erosion 2, Hydrology with hydraulics, Engineering in torrent control, Economics of natural resources protection, the Organization of erosion control works and Machinery in erosion control works (compulsory subjects) and a group of elective subjects: Fundamentals of environmental protection, Sediment management, Risks of natural disasters, Water management of hilly-mountainous areas, Water protection and Spatial  Arrangement of erodible areas.

In 2009, the Chair of torrent and erosion control took over some subjects from the Chair of  soil reclamation. These are subjects: Soil conservation and Soil amelioration (compulsory subjects), Soil physics, Air pollution and forest ecosystems and Soil and bioengineering techniques (elective subjects). According to the 2013 accreditation, the subject Fundamentals of environmental protection became a compulsory subject. The Elective subject Risks of natural disasters got a new name, Natural disasters, and a new elective subject Restoration of torrential catchments was introduced to the Chair. In the autumn of 2015 the subjects  Soil amelioration, Soil conservation, Soil physics, Air pollution and forest ecosystems and Soil and bioengineering techniques were transfered from the Chair of torrents and erosion control to the Chair of soil reclamation.