Prevention Projects

Topic description

Objective:

Themes & priorities:

Applicants are invited to select one or several of the following topic priorities.

Priority 1: Risk assessments, anticipation and risk management planning

Without an assessment that takes into account cross-border risks, cascading effects, and exposed or vulnerable areas and groups, including persons with disabilities, DRM strategies will only partially address the risks a country faces. This priority aims at enhancing the eligible entities’ capability to identify and assess relevant disaster risks with potential transboundary/trans-European and cross-sectoral impacts and use that information to reinforce disaster prevention and preparedness activities.

This priority correlates with the Union disaster resilience goal No. 1: ‘Anticipate - Improving risk assessment, anticipation and DRM planning’.

Priority 2: Risk awareness

Population plays an important role in disaster prevention and preparedness and citizens are usually the first responders to natural or human-induced disasters. National, regional and local authorities should cooperate, together with the private sector and civil society organisations, to increase disaster risk awareness and preparedness of the population. Evidence-based risk information and communication, as well as education activities, targeted to the public, including vulnerable groups and persons with disabilities, and volunteers, thus become effective tools to raise awareness on disaster prevention, preparedness and response measures.

This priority correlates with the Union disaster resilience goal No. 2: ‘Prepare - Increasing risk awareness and preparedness of the population’.

Priority 3: Early warning

Early warning systems are key elements for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation. In the wake of the Covid-19 crisis and with the recent extreme weather events and cascading impacts across sectors, the importance of advanced multi-hazard and risk warnings has never been more widely acknowledged. Although in Europe there is considerable experience with early warning systems, especially for weather and climate-related hazards, recent disasters have shown that more effort and collaboration is necessary. This would include the use of new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence in order to be able to process large volumes of data in a timely fashion, appropriate for emergency management.

This priority correlates with the Union disaster resilience goal No. 3: ‘Alert - Enhancing early warning’.

Priority 4: Wildfire risk management

Moving towards an integrated wildfire risk management is critical to building more resilient landscapes and communities. This priority aims to encourage integrated projects that address the underlying causes of increased wildfire risk and support the development of new governance models and guidelines. Improved wildfire risk governance, assessment, planning, prevention, and post-fire restoration should be addressed in an integrated manner, in addition to fire suppression actions, including by using Artificial Intelligence techniques.

According to recent studies, the results of wildfire prevention investments benefit-cost assessments yield net benefits. Wildfire prevention encompasses a broad variety of actions - including on forest management, spatial planning, training and education activities, public awareness, early warning, shared risk governance, etc. It also requires action at all levels (national, regional, and local), while considering cross-country implications and a multi-sectorial governance, involving forest owners, communities, authorities, tourism actors, researchers, etc. Proposals should take an integrated approach and address the link among various risk management steps.

This priority correlates with the three Union disaster resilience goals identified for the priorities 1, 2 and 3, given its cross-cutting and holistic approach. It also contributes to the implementation of the Wildfire Prevention Action Plan.

Activities that can be funded:

Under Priority 1 (Risk assessments, anticipation, and risk management planning), this call for proposals will co-finance activities that aim to assess and quantify risks and/or prepare management plans for risks with a multi-country or cross-border impact. Proposals could either build on and/or expand existing risk assessments and risk management plans, or they could develop new risk assessment or plans. In addition, proposals aiming to enhance the availability of tools and guidelines on risk assessment, disaster loss data analysis, and risk management planning are also encouraged. Projects under this priority should follow a multi-hazard approach.

Under Priority 2 (Risk awareness), this call for proposals co-finances activities that aim to enhance risk awareness and preparedness of the population, including through increasing the overall level of risk awareness, prevention and preparedness measures amongst the population, improving public access to disaster risk information, and enhancing the culture of risk prevention and self-protection. Proposals aiming to increase the availability of tools and guidelines on raising citizens’ awareness on disaster risks are also eligible.

Under Priority 3 (Early Warning), this call for proposals will co-finance activities that aim to build and improve forecasting, detection and monitoring capabilities, as well as public warning and alert systems. Proposals should demonstrate that they build on previous efforts or that there is an identified gap for the action. Proposals which promote the use of new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence, are also encouraged.

Under Priority 4 (Wildfire risk management), this call for proposals will co-finance integrated projects that aim to develop or improve wildfire data collection and analysis, wildfire risks assessment, wildfire risk management planning, wildfire risk governance, and wildfire early warning systems (by building upon existing instruments such as the European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) to the extent possible), including projects that promote the use of new technologies, such as Artificial Intelligence. Also, proposals aimed at raising public awareness, developing education and training material, and improving the understanding on the wildfire-related risks and prevention measures among key actors, are encouraged. Proposals should take into account aspects such as climate change impact on wildfire risk; fire weather forecast; fire propagation based on terrain, fuel and weather; social and behavioural elements, etc.

For the above priorities, the active involvement of end-users in the proposal conception and implementation is recommended. End-users may be DRM authorities at various levels, civil society organisations, private companies, and other stakeholders in the eligible countries.

The Prevention topic in the UCPM-2024-KAPP call is based on the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) legislation, which sets out the framework for disaster risk prevention and management at EU level. The specific priorities of this call include the following: Risk assessments, anticipation, and risk management planning, Risk awareness, and Early warning. Proposals should follow, to the extent possible, a multi-hazard approach, in line with the guiding principles of the Sendai Framework for disaster risk reduction 2015-2030. This general approach should also be reflected in cases of proposals with a focus on a single hazard.

In addition, this call also includes a wildfire risk management priority. Wildfire is one of the recurrent hazards leading to the activation of the UCPM. In 2022, wildfires burned more than 785 000 ha, being the second worst year on record for the EU, after 2017 with a 127% increase over the average burnt area in the last 15 years. In 2023, the trend continued with a bunt area of more than 463 000 ha, representing a 31% increase over the same average. Therefore, wildfire risk management receives particular attention under this call, with a view to allow integrated projects and the development of relevant tools and activities.

The overall objective of the Mechanism is to strengthen the cooperation among EU Member States and UCPM Participating States in the field of civil protection in order to facilitate coordination to improve the effectiveness of system for preventing, preparing for and responding to natural and man-made disasters. Any country in the world overwhelmed by a disaster can call on the Mechanism for help. By pooling the civil protection capabilities of the EU Member States and UCPM Participating States, the Mechanism can ensure better protection primarily of people, but also of the natural and cultural environment and of property, thereby contributing to more resilient societies.

In addition to the UCPM-2024-KAPP, single-country grants for disaster risk management actions – ‘Technical Assistance for Disaster Risk Management’ (Track 1 grants) - will be launched simultaneously. Only national civil protection and other disaster risk management authorities of eligible countries are targeted by these grants. In 2024, these grants will be launched through an open call for proposals.

Full background information about European civil protection activities is available at http://ec.europa.eu/echo/what/civil-protection_en.