An international workshop on disaster and climate resilience in West Balaton took place at the City Hall, Keszthely hosted by the Mayors Office. The workshop brought together 25 stakeholders from regional and local organisations.
The workshop was organised as a part of the DIRECTED project with attendance from the Project Coordinator, Dr. Max Steinhausen ( Technical University of Braunschweig, Germany) and researcher Dr. Lydia Cumiskey (University College Cork, Ireland). DIRECTED is an EU Horizon Europe funded innovation project aimed at fostering disaster-resilient European societies through utilising interoperable data, models, communication and governance to support actors to help manage and adapt to the impacts of extreme weather events.
Figure 1 – Participants discussing disaster resilience in the West Balaton area
The objective of the workshop was to 1) exchange knowledge among key stakeholders around key challenges and concerns for managing climate/ weather extreme events now and in the future, 2) to build awareness of climate change impacts and explore appropriate adaptation and preparedness actions for different actors with different interests and 3) share existing progress on DIRECTED and collect stakeholder needs and priorities to inform the co-design of a Dashboard (Data Fabric) for Zala.
Figure 2 – Co-production exercise
The interactive nature of the workshop using the Risk-Tandem storyline (a process that includes a range of collaborative exercises to encourage co-production of information) facilitated knowledge exchange around the multiple hazards and related impacts the West Balaton region faces, including mudflows, droughts, forest fires, erosion resulting in water quality and environmental issues. The discussions highlighted the need for the exchange of data among different agencies/ companies to synergise efforts around climate adaptation. A number of datasets were identified for inclusion in the DIRECTED Data Fabric (a system that brings together date sources and climate models and makes them interoperable to focus on real user needs) that will be developed for use in the region to facilitate informed decision making.
Figure 3 – Field trip to Lake Balaton
Discussions also highlighted the importance of sustainable and risk-informed development of the region for year round tourism, which prioritises green space and public access to Lake Balaton, a major tourist destination and ensure the region is resilient to the impact of climate extremes. There was agreement that continued collaboration among different sectoral actors is needed to shape a climate and disaster resilient future for West Balaton.
PROJECT OVERVIEW: Horizon Europe – DIRECTED PROJECT
For more information on the Horizon Europe – Directed Project: https://directedproject.eu/
(This project is an Innovation Action under the Civil Security for Society, Disaster-Resilient Societies programme of the Horizon Europe Programme funded by the European Union. Associate partners SEI Oxford and Oasis Hub Ltd, are funded by Innovate UK and ETH Zurich is funded by the State Secretariat for Education, Research and Innovation (SERI), Switzerland).
For more news about this event see: https://tvkeszthely.hu/news/12318-elorejelzo-rendszerek-segithetnek-hogy-megelozzuk-a-katasztrofakat