DIRECTED – Disaster Resilience for Extreme Climate Events providing Interoperable Data, Models, Communication and Governance

Abstract

<p align="justify">The recent droughts and unprecedented floods in Central Europe have revealed our vulnerability to extreme weather events. Besides climate change as a driver of more frequent and intensifying extreme events, demographic change and socio-economic development exacerbate severe impacts. International frameworks for disaster risk reduction (DRR) and climate change adaptation (e.g. Sendai framework for DRR, EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change) acknowledge the critical need for integrating risk governance, communication and operational mechanisms for coping with extreme climate events throughout the entire Disaster Risk Management cycle.</p> <p align="justify">DIRECTED aspires to foster disaster-resilient European societies by expanding our capabilities to communicate, utilise and exchange state-of-the-art data, information and knowledge between different actors. The project strives to boost the integration, accessibility and interoperability of models, facilitating knowledge sharing and improving dialogue and cooperation on all levels of Disaster Risk Management cycle. Four regional and municipal Real World Labs in the Capital Region of Denmark, the Danube Region, Emilia Romagna Region, Italy and the Rhine-Erft District, Germany, are at the centre of the bottom-up, value-driven co-development approach. The Real World Labs ensure the project continuously and actively involves key stakeholders in the development process and address topical problems of multi-hazard risk management and climate change adaptation to maximise the impacts of the DIRECTED project. Key to supporting interoperability will be the establishment of the DATA-FABRIC, an innovative, federated cloud platform that enables secure, flexible, discovery and sharing of all structured and unstructured data. DIRECTED is committed to promote the power of open data and open science in all of its research efforts.</p> <p align="justify">Through an interdisciplinary approach that brings together natural and social scientists, with data experts, local stakeholders as well as first and second responders DIRECTED builds lasting real world partnerships and leverages synergies for Disaster Risk Reduction and Climate Change Adaptation efforts in Europe.</p>