DIsaster Resilience for Extreme ClimaTe Events providing interoperable Data, models, communication and governance

The recent droughts in central Europe and unprecedented floods in central Europe have disclosed our vulnerability to extreme weather events. Besides climate change as a driver of more frequent and intensifying weather extremes, demographic change and socio-economic development exacerbate severe impacts. International frameworks for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation (e.g. SENDAI framework, 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. 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; boosting the integration, accessibility and interoperability of models; facilitating knowledge sharing; improving dialogue and cooperation encompassing all levels of actors based on enhanced community engagement and developing new governance and risk management strategies using a bottom-up, value-driven co-development approach. Key to supporting interoperability will be the establishment of the DATA-FABRIC, an innovative, governed, cloud platform that enables secure, flexible, discovery and sharing of all structured and unstructured data. Central to DIRECTED are four Real World Labs that co-develop new governance, interoperability and knowledge production frameworks and demonstrate their benefits for enhanced disaster risk governance supported by innovative technical frameworks to access, transform and integrate data and models into customised workflows for creating actionable solutions. The Real World Labs ensure the project continuously and actively involves key stakeholders in the co-development process and address topical problems of multi-hazard risk management and climate change adaptation to maximise impacts.

The DIRECTED mission is to:

- Overcome silos between technical and political authorities of all levels, including organisations, sectors and disciplines by improving dialogues and communication among DRR and CCA actors and by promoting the exchange and integration of information and knowledge.
- Leverage synergies, combine efforts and reduce the fragmentation within DRR and CCA domains, including addressing multi-level governance and different spatial and temporal scales.
- Promote multi-risk thinking by means of a novel transdisciplinary multi-risk governance framework related to climate extremes (RISK-TANDEM) aimed at assessing, evaluating, managing and communicating multi-hazard, multi-risk issues in close collaboration with engaged stakeholders, practitioners and concerned citizens.
- Build capacity and lasting real-world partnerships and collaboration between involved actors that will last beyond the project.
- Exploit the power of open data and open science, improving capabilities (e.g. using a flexible Data Fabric architecture) to make use of scattered information for more effective decisions, including knowledge and tools developed within past, present and future research and innovation initiatives.

DTU is mainly affiliated with WP1 and WP2 but has contributions to all WPs. Together with Region Hovedstaden (Emilie Rønde Nielsen & Amalie Laursen) DTU organizes the Danish Real-World Lab in Region Hovedstaden.

DIRECTED is funded by Horizon Europe and coordinated by the Technical University of Braunschweig (Kai Schröter and Max Steinhausen).

DIRECTED aims to reduce vulnerability to extreme weather events and foster disaster-resilient European societies by promoting interoperability of data, models, communication and governance on all levels and between all actors of the disaster risk management and climate adaptation process.