DIRECTED

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 DATAFABRIC, 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.

Overall project goals: 1) Create an overview of current knowledge, policies, tools, best practices and key actors, their interoperability, and how they influence decisions on DRR and CCA. 2) Advance the interoperability of data, models and tools. 3) Co-develop a new multi-level integrated risk governance framework for the coherent integration between DRR and CCA policies and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs). 4) Demonstrate the potential of transdisciplinary and multi-stakeholder co-production as a means to unpack enablers and barriers for developing transformative tools and improved risk management strategies. 5) Leverage innovative digital architectures using data-fabric and data-mesh techniques to support integrated multi-hazard DRR and CCA workflows. 6) Strengthen DRR and resilience-building in the RWLs (and beyond).

PIK is mainly engaged in Work Packages 1 “Real World Labs” and 2 “Data and Model Interoperability”. Among the four RWL, PIK's special focus is on the Danube River basin for which a modelling system combining eco-hydrological and flood modelling (Seamless Prediction Tool, including SWIM) already exists, but needs to be advanced regarding model fidelity and the capability for real-time applications. The process of setting up the RWL involves co-production with stakeholders whose needs shall be optimally addressed by tailored model outputs (e.g. flood alerts, inundation data for early damage estimations, etc.).