Mapping the Future: Community-Based Disaster Management Strategies in Europe

In the context of the PANTHEON project, the “Analysis of CBDRM National and Regional Policies, Existing Platforms and Uptakes” was conducted at the beginning of the project, including the mapping of the disaster management and civil protection regime over the EU, as well as the identification and description of platforms that facilitate decision-making and promote community-based disaster risk management.

In order to provide the reader with a holistic overview of the existing situation with regards to civil protection strategies and plans, the study commences from a high-level international and pan-European level and downscales to the national and regional level of the pilot areas of the projects, i.e., Greece/Attica Region, Austria/Vienna Province and formerly of France/ Île-de-France Region.

Frameworks and Directives for International and EU Disaster Risk Management

As a first step, international disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation strategies are described, with the inclusion of the Sendai Framework and its targets and priorities for disaster impact reduction and the United Nations International Strategy for Disaster Reduction. Focusing on the EU level, the research centred around the structure and mandate of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and the European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection. In contrast, the European Commission Directives related to the maintenance of the water environment, the management of flood risk, the transportation of dangerous goods, the control of major accident hazards, the establishment of the 112-emergency number, the increase of the level of cybersecurity and the level of security for Critical Infrastructures around the EU are encompassed with direct correlation to their counterparts in the national legislations of pilot countries.

National Approaches to Civil Protection and Hazard Management

The second step is the description of civil protection strategies at the national level, which are implemented to manage the major hazards that affect the areas under investigation. Thus, the authors of this report describe the plans of the General Secretariat of Civil Protection of Greece for the management of emergencies emerging from natural hazards, e.g., earthquakes, volcanic eruptions, floods, snowfalls, wildfires, as well as from anthropogenic hazards, e.g., technological accidents, CBRNe events, and transportation accidents. The same procedure was also followed for France, with the description of the structure of civil protection in the country and the implemented plans for the prevention of and response to natural and technological hazards, e.g., the natural risk prevention plan (PPRN) and the technological risk prevention plan (PPRT), the flood prevention and the forest fire prevention plan (PPRIF) among others. Due to the change in the pilot area from France to Austria and specifically to Vienna, the respective information was added to the strategies and legislations valid for the country, including, inter alia, the Austrian Security and Cybersecurity Strategies, the national crisis and disaster plan and the strategy for adaptation to climate change.

Finally, the strategies implemented at the local/regional level of the three countries are also identified. In fact, these are derived from the respective national strategies but are adapted to the needs, challenges, and hazards affecting the specific areas.

Mapping Community Platforms for Disaster Decision-Making

Apart from the analysis of the disaster management regime, a mapping of platforms enabling and facilitating decision-making while concurrently considering a community-based approach was conducted. These platforms are either developed under the framework of EU research and innovation projects or are produced by companies of the private sector (SMEs and industrial enterprises) and by synergies of technical stakeholders with other stakeholders (research institutes or first responders). However, the involvement of the community, ranging from vulnerable groups to the scientific community, is the common denominator of the aforementioned projects.

Overall, this entry, along with the rest of our blog posts, are the foundations of the whole project as they holistically describe the hazards, the implemented disaster management strategies and the community vulnerability in the pilot areas, providing inputs to the technical partners of the Consortium for the development of a Smart City Digital Twin technology, that is aligned with the disaster management regime and the needs of the society.