Horizon Europe: Working towards disaster resilience  

July 2021: Andrew Staniforth provides an insightful update on the pioneering programme funded by the EU that the CRJ first reported on in April. 

_{With a total budget of €95.5 billion over the next five years, Horizon Europe is the EU’s key funding programme for research and innovation. Image: mycola/123rf}

A key strategic priority of the new European Commission research and innovation Horizon Europe Programme is to create a Disaster Resilient Society for Europe. With more than €30 million allocated to a series of disaster resilience innovative projects for this year, the European Commission believes that losses from natural, accidental and man-made disasters are reduced through enhanced disaster risk reduction based on preventive actions, better societal preparedness, as well as resilience and improved disaster risk management when delivered in a systemic way.  
 
Under Cluster 3: Civil Security for Society of the Horizon Europe Programme, the European Commission is seeking new and innovative projects to deliver unique disaster resilience solutions, including the better understanding of citizens’ behavioural and psychological reactions in the event of a disaster or crisis.
 
By calling for research and innovation project proposals, the European Commission expects research to analyse the nature and scope of mental health issues of the affected populations and of first-responders, arising during and following natural or man-made disasters or crisis. 
 
At CRJ, with an extensive crisis response global network, we know how essential it is to communicate complex project objectives and outcomes to key stakeholders, to disseminate information about forthcoming activities to engage end-users and to share results and project outputs to maximise exploitation opportunities.
 
Project communication and dissemination activities at the beginning of Horizon Europe projects will raise awareness of strategic objectives and will be essential for those projects in the disaster resilience field. The close of large-scale EU projects is also an excellent time to share positive project outcomes. But throughout the life of the project, there are rich opportunities to communicate what has been learned thus far, and to promote forthcoming testing, evaluation and validation activities to crisis responders. 
 
CRJ offers a range of opportunities to raise awareness of project progress and to engage and inform stakeholders throughout the life of the project. Disseminating what has been learned at regular intervals throughout the duration of the project provides strong evidence of excellent knowledge exchange and ensures project outputs have positive impact for crisis response agencies.
 
CRJ can also help projects to reach out and engage with an increasing number of end-user stakeholders, ensuring exploitation opportunities are maximised and new routes to market are identified. Raising awareness of forthcoming workshops to capture end-user requirements, promoting the delivery of key tasks and reaching project milestones provide excellent opportunities for communication activities. 
 
CRJ is here to help, ensuring Horizon Europe funded projects are a great success through delivering the expected impacts of creating a disaster resilient society across Europe.
 
Contact us to find out how CRJ can be of assistance.

Visit the Horizon Europe Programme for more information.

Andrew Staniforth and David Fortune wrote about how the EU is tackling attacks on places of worship in their latest article for the CRJ, The rise of religious hate, available to read for free here