Call: Improved understanding of risk exposure and its public awareness in areas exposed to multi-hazards

This Destination supports the implementation of international policy frameworks (e.g. the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement, Sustainable Development Goals), EU disaster risk management policies tackling natural and man-made threats (either accidental or intentional), European Green Deal priorities including the new EU Climate Adaptation Strategy [[COM(2021) 82 final., as well as the Security Union Strategy [[COM(2020) 605 final.]] and the Counter-Terrorism Agenda [[COM(2020) 795 final.]] .

The world and our societies are facing growing risks from anthropogenic and natural hazards, which call for enhanced capacities in risk and resilience management and governance [[Overview of natural and man-made disaster risks the European Union may face, SWD(2020) 330.]], including instruments for better prevention and preparedness, technologies for first and second responders [[A “second responder” is a worker who supports "first responders" such as police, fire, and emergency medical personnel. They are involved in preparing, managing, returning services, and cleaning up sites during and after an event requiring first responders, including crime scenes and areas damaged by fire, storm, wind, floods, earthquakes, or other natural disasters. These types of services may include utility services (shutdown or reinstatement of electrical, gas, sewage, and/or water services), wireless or wireline communication services, specialty construction (i.e. shelter construction), hazardous waste clean-up, road clearing, crowd control, emergency services (i.e. Red Cross), first aid, food services, security services, social services (i.e., trauma counsellors), and sanitation.]], and where relevant for citizens, and overall societal resilience. The increasing severity and frequency of extreme weather events (e.g. floods, heat and cold waves, storms) and associated events (e.g. forest fires) resulting from climate change compounded vulnerabilities and exposure require a specific research focus while geological hazards (e.g. earthquakes, tsunamis, volcanic eruptions) and slow-onset trends (e.g. sea-level rise, glacier melt, droughts) also deserve a continuous attention. Anthropogenic threats also demand strengthened crisis management capacities, as shown by recent industrial accidents and terrorist attacks associated with chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and explosive materials (CBRN-E). Finally, the COVID-19 crisis has demonstrated how societies have become more exposed and vulnerable to pandemic risks and has shown that existing global inequalities often exacerbate both the exposure and vulnerability of communities, infrastructures and economies.

Risk reduction of any kind of disasters is regulated by a number of international, EU and national and local policies and strategies covering various sectors and features such as awareness raising and communication, prevention, mitigation, preparedness, monitoring and detection, response, and recovery. Our societies nowadays have to deal with complex and transboundary crises within which a more systemic approach with strict interconnection between risk reduction and sustainable development is needed. Complex crises affect scientific, governance, policy and social areas and require inter-sectoral cooperation. A wide range of research and technological developments, as well as capacity-building and training projects, has supported the development and implementation of policies and strategies. However, integrating further research and innovation needs is often difficult owing to the complexity of the policy framework and the high level of fragmentation of research and capacity-building initiatives. In addition, enhanced cooperation and involvement of different sectors and actors are essential, including policy-makers, scientists, industry/Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), public administration (both at national and regional/local level), scientists, credit/financial institutions, practitioners, Non-Governmental Organisations (NGOs), and Civil-Society Organisations (CSOs), notwithstanding the citizen dimension.

In this respect, the implementation of international policy frameworks (e.g. the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the Paris Agreement), EU disaster risk management policies, in particular the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), the European Green Deal policies such as the new EU Climate Adaptation Strategy, as well as the Security Union Strategy and the Counter-Terrorism Agenda (in particular for disasters linked to terrorism), requires cross-border and cross-sectoral cooperation an enhanced collaboration among different actors and strengthened knowledge covering the whole disaster management cycle, from prevention and preparedness to response and recovery (and learning). Understanding and exploiting the existing linkages and synergies among policy frameworks represents in this sense a global priority for future research and innovation actions in the field of natural hazards and man-made disasters.

For the response side, international cooperation on research and innovation with key partners has the potential to identify common solutions and increase the relevance of outcomes. As such, the International Forum to Advance First Responder Innovation (IFAFRI) and other Expert Networks involved in UN and/or NATO initiatives have provided overviews of existing gaps and are in the position to engage in cooperation with partners inside and outside the EU, the results of which can provide a valuable source for identifying most urgent needs concerning disaster management (e.g. knowledge, operational, organizational and technological) of relevance to international cooperation, in particular in support to the implementation of international policies such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.

Integrated approaches are essential to bridge different policy areas including civil protection, environment (including water, forestry, biodiversity / nature and Seveso-related policies), climate adaptation and mitigation, health and consumer protection, and security (in particular in the CBRN-E area). Common resilience pathways emerging from different scientific and operational domains still need to be explored in terms of their implementation potential. It also requires the strengthening of opportunities for transdisciplinary and transboundary joint efforts in order to organise and structure, a new strategy for the Horizon Europe Framework with all the relevant actors. In particular, the paradigm shift from managing “disasters” to managing “risks” and enhancing resilience needs to be supported by research and innovation actions, including innovative methods and solutions addressed to decision-makers, to support complementary education and training needed in all the domains of interventions (from public administration to private companies, citizens, NGOs), complementary procedural and organisational changes that have impact on the overall society as well as on technologies, processes, procedures and various tools in support of first and second responders operations. A huge body of knowledge and technology has been developed in the Seventh Framework Programme and Horizon 2020. This forms a strong legacy that will pave the way for future research in support of an enhanced resilience of European society to disasters of any kind, and previous findings will need to be fully recognised and used in forthcoming research developments.

Successful proposals under this Destination are encouraged to closely cooperate with other EC-chaired or funded initiatives in the relevant domains, such as the Networks of Practitioners projects funded under H2020 Secure Societies work programmes, the Knowledge Networks for Security Research & Innovation funded under the Horizon Europe Cluster 3 Work Programme, the Community of Users for Secure, Safe and Resilient Societies (future CERIS –Community of European Research and Innovation for Security) or other Knowledge Networks set-up by European Commission services (e.g. the Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network [[Article 13 of Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism and subsequent amendments.]]).

Furthermore, in order to accomplish the objectives of this Destination, additional eligibility conditions have been defined with regard to the active involvement of relevant security practitioners or end-users.

Proposals involving earth observation are encouraged to primarily make use of Copernicus data, services and technologies.

Expected impacts:

Proposals for topics under this Destination should set out a credible pathway to contributing to the following expected impact of the Horizon Europe Strategic Plan 2021-2024:

“Losses from natural, accidental and man-made disasters are reduced through enhanced disaster risk reduction based on preventive actions, better societal preparedness and resilience and improved disaster risk management in a systemic way.”

More specifically, proposals should contribute to the achievement of one or more of the following impacts:

• Enhanced understanding and improved knowledge and situational awareness of disaster-related risks by citizens, empowered to act, thus raising the resilience of European society;
• More efficient cross-sectoral, cross-disciplines, cross-border coordination of the disaster risk management cycle (from prevention, preparedness to mitigation, response, and recovery) from international to local levels.

Enhanced sharing of knowledge and coordination regarding standardisation in the area of crisis management and CBRN-E.

Strengthened capacities of first responders in all operational phases related to any kind of (natural and man-made) disasters so that they can better prepare their operations, have access to enhanced situational awareness, have means to respond to events in a faster, safer and more efficient way, and may more effectively proceed with victim identification, triage and care.

Expected Outcome:

Projects’ results are expected to contribute to some of following outcomes:

• Advanced disaster / crisis simulations and impact assessments supporting decision-making processes based on best available knowledge, adaptive strategies and methodologies, including accurate exposure data and adequate vulnerability assessments, quantitative hazard information with comparable metrics across different risks (especially addressing multi-hazard situations), including disaster loss data and qualitative information issued from historical testimonies and case studies.
• Risk and resilience assessment solutions, studies and outputs in support of long-term multi-hazard management strategies (e.g. climate adaptation, disaster risk reduction and prevention and mitigation strategies) with a focus on vulnerable regions prone to multiple hazard occurrences, involving interdisciplinary teams in different scientific and technological fields (such as geology, climate, man-made hazards, critical infrastructures and assets, history, health sciences, economics and social sciences). This requires novel interdisciplinary risk approaches to assessing human-hazard interactions, and reaching the most vulnerable segments of the community.
• Advanced data management, information update and forecast / early warning systems (including via satellite and in-situ observation) in support of evolving public understanding and decision-making needs in the field of multi-hazard preparedness policy and planning, taking into account data uncertainties and including the determination of baseline scenarios and corresponding risk thresholds, as well as data potentially available (e.g. from surveys, earth observations, historic databases, academic and business/private sector repositories, climate projections, etc.) and near-real-time impact simulations combined with data-farming approaches.
• Communication and dissemination platforms supporting an increased dialogue and cooperation between scientific, technological, practitioners, policy-makers, private sector (e.g. insurers), NGOs, citizens and community-based organisations for sharing and building-up the knowledge of hazards and related risks for a comprehensive awareness (and preparedness) of the risk at all levels (risk memory and implementation of lessons learnt into policy actions), taking into account various uncertainties that may affect decision-making.

Scope:

The awareness of multiple hazards and the understanding and the assessment of risks and their consequences is a critical and fundamental step towards the development of local, national and international policies and strategies within all phases of the disaster risk management cycle, in particular preparedness. The availability of reliable scientific data and information (including historical occurrences and climate projections) to anticipate future disaster events or crisis situations, considering uncertainties inherent to natural systems characterization, and effectively support decision-making processes at all levels represents a global challenge for both the research community and governance institutions.

Actions at national/local and global/regional levels rely on knowledge of risks in all its dimension and changeable nature. A strengthened understanding of risks by the population (and decision-makers) is needed, based on both records of past events and forecasts and projections (with quantified uncertainties) that reflect consideration of evolving trends and dynamics over time and space. This is particularly acute in the case of multi-hazard risks, i.e. occurrences of several disasters either in cascade or at once. Moreover, the work needs to be complemented with improved knowledge on how risk awareness and actions are influenced and shaped by diverse aspects such as past events, cultures and traditions.

The understanding of multiple disaster risks (and related awareness) relies on knowledge gained about historical data and information about past events and related lessons learned as well as the ability to forecast and assess future risks under uncertainty (including impacts of pandemics, as well as global change, including climate trends and earth system and environment dynamics). These complex interactions between human decisions and multiple hazards require novel risk assessment approaches such as agent-based modelling and systems dynamics methods. This will result in improved preparedness actions built upon these analyses (e.g. defining evacuation routes, responsiveness of health services, etc.). Social media also plays a role in disaster analytics. For example, an increasing number of location-based social network services can provide time-stamped, geo-located data that opens new opportunities and solutions to a wide range of challenges by analysing the extracted public behaviour responses from social media before, during and after disaster events. When using social media data, the design for data collection and analysis has to respect fundamental rights, privacy and data protection and analyses have to take related societal effects in online and offline environments into account as well as possible disinformation and fake news. Also, risk awareness, understanding and preparedness are unequally distributed along a wide range of variables (socio-economic, cultural, regional etc.) that may generate drawbacks and conflicting issues with respect to groups' vulnerability.

This topic requires the effective contribution of SSH disciplines and the involvement of SSH experts, institutions as well as the inclusion of relevant SSH expertise, in order to produce meaningful and significant effects enhancing the societal impact of the related research activities. The involvement of citizens, civil society and other societal stakeholders in co-design and co-creation should be promoted. In order to achieve the expected outcomes, international cooperation is encouraged.

Where possible and relevant, synergy-building and clustering initiatives with successful proposals in the same area should be considered, including the organisation of international conferences in close coordination with the Community for European Research and Innovation for Security (CERIS) activities and/or other international events.

eligible non-EU countries:

• countries associated to Horizon Europe

• low-and middle-income countries

Legal entities which are established in countries not listed above will be eligible for funding if provided for in the specific call conditions, or if their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority.

Specific cases:

• Affiliated entities - Affiliated entities are eligible for funding if they are established in one of the countries listed above.
• EU bodies - Legal entities created under EU law may also be eligible to receive funding, unless their basic act states otherwise.
• International organisations - International European research organisations are eligible to receive funding. Unless their participation is considered essential for implementing the action by the granting authority, other international organisations are not eligible to receive funding. International organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Associated Country are eligible to receive funding for ‘Training and mobility’actions and when provided for in the specific call conditions.

Unless otherwise provided for in the specific call conditions , legal entities forming a consortium are eligible to participate in actions provided that the consortium includes:

• at least one independent legal entity established in a Member State;and
• at least two other independent legal entities, each established in different Member States or Associated Countries.

Proposal page limits and layout:

The application form will have two parts:

• Part A to be filled in directly online  (administrative information, summarised budget, call-specific questions, etc.)
• Part B to be downloaded from the Portal submission system, completed and re-uploaded as a PDF in the system

Page limit - Part B: 45 pages