Enhancing Synergies for disaster PRevention in the EurOpean Union (ESPREssO)

The ESPREssO project (Enhancing Synergies for disaster PRevention in the EurOpean Union), a Coordination and Support Action funded by DG-RESEARCH under the H2020 Programme, have contributed to a new strategic vision on Disaster Risk Reduction (DRR) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA) in Europe and to a future roadmap for research and innovation activities within the Horizon Europe Framework Programme. To achieve this goal, the project has used three main broad challenges as a logic framework around which to build the recognition of relevant gaps and needs both in the scientific and governance domains:

• Integrating DRR and CCA, to propose ways to create more coherent national and European approaches and resilience strengthening;
• Integrating Science and legal/policy issues in DRR and CCA, to enhance risk management capabilities by bridging the gap within these domains at local and national levels;
• Improving national regulations to prepare for transboundary crises, to address the issue of efficient management of disasters induced by natural hazards (including cascading effects and NaTech) requiring a coordinated effort from two or more countries in the EU, and/or the support of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism.

Besides the expertise of the ESPREssO consortium, the success of the project resulted from an extensive contribution of stakeholders and key actors working in the fields of DRR and CCA. Stakeholder Forums (SFs), Think Tanks (TTs), serious gaming, online questionnaire surveys and the online repository developed in the Action Database were designed to facilitate effective mechanisms and interactions with the key players and structuring their feedback with respect to the expected outcomes of the projects.

The final outcomes and the considerable number of documents, deliverables and reports developed throughout the project, represent not merely the point of view of the consortium, rather the ESPREssO community at large. The final outcomes, the Vision Paper on future research strategies following the Sendai Framework and the Enhancing Risk Management Capabilities Guidelines, have taken advantage of an intense review activity carried out by the international experts of the ESPREssO Stakeholder group.