Reliable data and tools

Natural disasters cause the death 85,000 people and 230 million affected by natural disasters worldwide. On top of this, disasters are estimated to cost Europe €15 billion annually. Since 1998, floods alone have killed 700 people, caused the displacement of about half a million and cost at least €25 billion in insured economic losses in Europe. Thymios N. Sokos, General Secretary, Decentralised Administration of Macedonia and Thrace (GR) refers to the figures released by the European Commission to underline the need for “emergency planning” and “interregional cooperation” to “contain the farreaching human, economic and environmental consequences of these catastrophes”. The Summer 2011 Thematic Dossier of the Assembly of European Regions (www.aer.eu), on natural disasters presents the “Flinkman project”, on flood management to improve the framework for coping with the most frequent disaster in Europe.Cooperation, coordination, communication. These are the guiding principles of the Flinkman project, which aims to improve flood risk management by “bringing stakeholders together to prepare a flood management plan”, states the Dossier, which refers to the EU disaster prevention strategy. The Flinkman project, co-financed by the European Commission under the civil protection financial instrument, led by the Decentralised Administration of Macedonia and Thrace (GR) represents the point of arrival of the 2007-2009 work conducted by the AER Emergency Planning network which represents 270 regions in 34 countries. The project, continues the Dossier, “promotes best practice across the EU by developing support tools and encouraging cross-regional and transnational crisis management practices in Europe”. It also involves the Province of Noord-Brabant (NL) and the Land Hessen (D); AER, the Balkan Environment Centre (GR) and Sigma Consultants (GR) are also partners in the project.Protecting the territory and the citizens. “It is important to include all stakeholders when developing prevention and management plans”, underlined Ourania Georgoutsakou, AER Senior Policy coordinator of the ‘Social policy and Public health’ Committee. “Emergency planning may not always be a direct regional competence, but at the end of the day every regional politician has a responsibility to protect their territory and citizens”. In the 21st century citizens can no longer accept “that people die in natural disasters that should be foreseen and prevented”. “It is important for each region to know its own context well: its geographic specificities and risks and the resources it has at its disposal to prevent and manage disasters. Civil protection is hierarchical, but regions have a clear role to play in minimising risks and ensuring they are prepared to respond to any disaster that may occur” she concludes.The experience of Holland and Germany. Marja Segers, a policy advisor on flood prevention at the Province of Noord-Brabant , remarked: “The Netherlands has a long history in flood protection. We have built many dykes to reclaim land from the sea, and along the main rivers to protect ourselves”. However, “We have suffered some major flood events and came to the conclusion that a new approach was needed”. Simply raising the dykes is not a sustainable solution. We now give the rivers more space and simultaneously improve the spatial quality of the river basin”. Matthias Löw, who works on flood protection and hydrology at the Hessian Ministry of Environment, maintains that “one crucial target” is “the development of a strategy to communicate flood risks”. He recalls the last major flood event on the Rhine river, which “dates back to the late 1800s, when dykes broke and an area was flooded with 240,000 inhabitants affected. Part of the current strategy in tackling natural disasters is the implementation of disaster control exercises on a regular basis”.EU strategy. “Our objective – explained George Zalidis from the Balkan Environment Centre – is to provide decision makers from south-east Europe with reliable data and tools for the planning and implementation of environmental management activities. We also work on flood prevention and on mitigation of risk”. The EU Floods Directive (2007) envisages a three-stage strategy requiring member states to draw up flood risk management plans for the river basins and coastal areas at high risk of flooding. EU countries will have to produce a preliminary flood risk assessment by 2011; flood hazard maps for high risk areas by 2013; and full flood risk management plans by 2015.