When Cyclone Chido struck Mayotte on 14 December 2024, it left the French region facing one of its most severe natural disasters in decades. With wind gusts exceeding 200 km/h, the cyclone caused extensive damage to infrastructure, and disrupted access to essential services.

In this interview, Anna Savielyeva, Operational Duty Officer for international monitoring at the State Emergency Service of Ukraine (SESU) reflects on working under the pressure of the full-scale invasion, the growing importance of international cooperation and the increasing role of women in operational positions within Ukraine’s emergency service.

The quarterly UCPKN Newsletter is full of UCPM-related news, updates from the Community and information on upcoming events, learning opportunities and new resources in the field of civil protection and disaster risk management.

A new eLearning course, "Introduction to Artificial Intelligence in Disaster Risk Management (DRM)" is now available on the EU Academy platform.

Shaping a disaster-resilient Union: Charting a path for the future of European civil protection. Preparations are already under way for the 9th edition of the Civil Protection Forum, which will take place on 3-4 November 2026, in Tour & Taxis, Brussels.

To mark International Women’s Day 2026 the Knowledge Network highlights the experiences of women working across civil protection and disaster risk management. In this special series, four professionals — Zisoula Ntasiou, Adisa Bala, Mirnesa Softic and Eleonora Tilcerová — share their perspectives on leadership, responsibility and the evolving role of women in the sector.

The Knowledge Network Capacity Development pillar aims to connect, promote and strengthen capacity development initiatives relevant to civil protection and disaster management.

Through the Knowledge Network, the scientific community and operational stakeholders in disaster management have a new space to connect and share knowledge.

The exercise programme of the Knowledge Network offers a variety of civil protection exercises to enhance prevention, preparedness and disaster response.

Preparedness for Operational Monitoring and Prediction of contaminant Transport in the Sea.

Training Centre Network on 3D and VR.

Managing Complex Floods in North Albania through Cross Border Host Nation Support and Joint Cooperation.