TAMIR (‘Advanced Tools for pro-Active Management of Impacts and Risks Induced by Convective Weather, Heavy Rain and Flash floods in Europe’) and EDERA (‘Early warning Demonstration of pan-European rainfall-induced impact forecasts') projects develop tools for forecasting of hazards and impacts of storms and heavy rains, partnering with EU civil protection authorities.
TAMIR (‘Advanced Tools for pro-Active Management of Impacts and Risks Induced by Convective Weather, Heavy Rain and Flash floods in Europe’) and EDERA (‘Early warning Demonstration of pan-European rainfall-induced impact forecasts') are two prevention and preparedness projects. TAMIR was coordinated by the Finnish Meteorological Institute (FMI) and EDERA is coordinated by the Universitat Politècnica de Catalunya – BarcelonaTech (UPC). EDERA is the ongoing continuation of TAMIR, which ended in 2022. Both projects focus on storms, heavy rains and their consequences, particularly on flash floods.
The projects aim to enhance the tools for forecasting of hazards and impacts of storms and heavy rains that European civil protection authorities and end-users can engage with.
The long-term impacts of TAMIR and EDERA are to transfer research results into real-time application to support decision-making. This will improve existing tools for early warning systems to support emergency management. The concluded TAMIR and its ongoing continuum EDERA already plan to develop the preservation of the results by transferring them to the Copernicus Emergency Management Service flood component, the European Flood Awareness System, so that the developments remain available to a broader audience.
’As coordinator of EDERA, I participate in the management of technical activities and in the development of tools for forecasting flash flood hazards and impacts’’
These two projects have a strong European focus. Indeed, the partners of TAMIR were the FMI, European Centre for Medium-range Weather Forecasts (ECMWF), UPC, and Kymenlaakso Rescue Department of Finland. Meanwhile, EDERA also includes the analysis of the added value of the developments for cross-border cooperation; and its partners are the UPC, ECMWF, FMI, Environment and Water Agency of Andalusia, Directorate-General for Civil Protection and Emergencies of Spain, and National Authority for Emergency and Civil Protection of Portugal.
The pan-European coverage of the developed products enables institutions of all European countries to adopt the results of the project. In this sense, TAMIR and EDERA managed to transfer knowledge to other communities and organisations and to nurture long relationships with hydro-meteorological partners that became stakeholders.
‘’The participation of stakeholders is key; we are very active in inviting them to contribute to the tests by integrating the developed products in their early warning systems. Their contribution in the evaluation of our developments is very valuable, and thus we promote their participation in the project’’
These projects create a synergy of expertise as some partners are devoted to the transfer of research and integration of products and tools for decision-making, such as researchers and developers, while others are technical staff involved in emergency management with operational responsibilities, contributing to the evaluation of the project results. The constant interactions with end-users to collect feedback and collaborate nurtures a strong participation and communication with very diverse stakeholders. In EDERA, an effort is being made to train the stakeholders through dedicated workshops and the development of e-learning materials.
‘’As developers with a technical background, it is very interesting to learn about emergency management protocols, their use of the tools, their operational limits and needs, and including their feedback into our work’’
The EDERA project coordinator underlined the importance of the Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network platform that offers a large shop-window to the numerous civil protection initiatives throughout Europe. The team will publish news of the results and main successes of EDERA on the platform and to stakeholders.
Author: Claire Coviaux, DG ECHO B.3, Prevention and Preparedness Capacity-Building Unit
The Knowledge Network editorial team is here to share the news and stories of the Knowledge Network community. We'd love to hear your news, events and personal stories about your life in civil protection and disaster risk management. If you've got a story to share, please contact us.
Thematic series