Designing new ways of risk awareness and enhanced disaster preparedness

Expected outcome

Project results are expected to contribute to some or all of the following expected outcomes: Development of innovative tools and methodologies to monitor and improve risk awareness across society, integrating diverse community perspectives and leveraging advanced technologies; Development and uptake solutions and tools for the successful increase of safety culture and societal resilience of communities with concrete material, while considering also the inclusion and protection of marginalized populations in disaster scenarios; Creation of comprehensive, inclusive preparedness plans that involve all societal sectors and governance levels, ensuring coordinated and effective responses to disasters (such as from early warning to early action), including scarcity of resources; Establishment of a resilient, adaptive response framework that enhances collaboration between public authorities, communities, and private sectors, improving overall disaster resilience.

Scope

Building on the whole-of-society and whole-of-government approach, this topic should contribute to enhancing risk awareness and disaster preparedness through the development of innovative tools, methodologies, and frameworks. A key focus should be on integrating diverse societal and resilience perspectives considering people in a vulnerable situation, ensuring inclusive participation in risk communication strategies, and leveraging accessible advanced technologies and processes to improve public understanding of hazards and vulnerabilities (such as gender, disabilities and others social factors. and capabilities. Efforts should aim at designing and validating novel approaches to risk perception, communication, including digital platforms, immersive technologies, and participatory tools that foster citizen engagement and behavioural change, as well as wildlife protection. Behavioural insights should inform the projects on effective methods in population’s preparedness including the risk communication. Special attention should be given to marginalized or vulnerable groups in a vulnerable situation ensure equitable access to risk information and preparedness resources. To strengthen disaster preparedness and response capabilities across Europe, there is a clear need for an innovative, interoperable solution that enables the development of new strategies for risk awareness and disaster management. Such a solution should facilitate seamless collaboration between public authorities, civil society, local communities, and the private sector. It must support the co-creation of comprehensive preparedness plans that ensure a coordinated, robust, resilient, and effective response to a wide range of disaster scenarios. Central to this approach should be the integration of a command-and-control system that allows for centralized information management, efficient coordination among all stakeholders, and rapid, data-driven decision-making in emergency situations. For example, effor

What this means for cities and regions

Designs new approaches to risk awareness and enhanced disaster preparedness — communication, behavioural science, citizen engagement in risk management, integration with social-protection systems. Cities, civil protection authorities, NGOs, schools and universities typically participate. Project size around €3 million per grant; close 5 November 2026.