DIRECTED - DIsaster Resilience for Extreme ClimaTe Events

Interoperable Tools and Governance for Disaster Risk Management

DIsaster Resilience for Extreme ClimaTe Events providing interoperable Data, models, communication and governance

The recent droughts and unprecedented floods in central Europe have disclosed our vulnerability to extreme weather events. Not only is climate change a driver of more frequent and intensifying weather extremes, demographic change and socio-economic development also exacerbate severe impacts. International frameworks for disaster risk reduction and climate change adaptation (e.g. the SENDAI framework, the EU Strategy on adaptation to climate change) acknowledge the critical need for integrating risk governance, communication and operational mechanisms to cope with extreme climate events throughout the entire disaster risk management cycle. DIRECTED aspires to foster disaster-resilient European societies by expanding the capabilities to

utilize, communicate and exchange state-of-the art data, information and knowledge between different actors;
boost the integration, accessibility and interoperability of models;
improve dialogue and cooperation between actors involved at all levels based on enhanced community engagement and
develop new governance and risk management strategies using a bottom-up, value-driven co-development approach.

Central to DIRECTED are four Real World Labs (RWL). They are located in European areas that have been affected by severe weather events in the recent past or have a high probability to be affected in the near future. These Real World Labs will co-develop new governance, interoperability and knowledge co-production frameworks as well as demonstrate their benefits for enhanced disaster risk management. The Real World Labs ensure that the project continuously and actively involves key stakeholders in the co-development process and addresses topical problems of multi-hazard risk management and climate-change adaptation. Key to supporting the interoperability of information will be the development of an innovative federated cloud platform that enables secure and flexible access, transformation, combination and sharing of models and data. Tailored to the needs of the Real World Labs, the platform will be based on a federated architecture that meets particular requirements regarding the handling of sensitive data and models.

52°North leads the architecture design development, as well as the platform implementation and evaluation throughout the project. Throughout 2023, 52°North has participated in and led several discussions with project partners and Real World Lab leaders to collect the requirements for the data and model infrastructure, the DIRECTED Data Fabric. The Erftverband, leader of the Real World Lab in the Rhine-Erft region, hosted the General Assembly. This was a very valuable meeting to further define the requirements of all RWLs, but in particular to better understand the situation and needs of the Rhine-Erft region. During a field trip, the project partners had the opportunity to visit the restoration measures of the disastrous heavy rainfall event Bernd in 2021, which further shaped the understanding of the information needs of the local water authorities. A series of meetings with DIRECTED modelers also helped to further investigate the technical requirements and interactions between models. Based on the current state of the requirements analysis, our team implemented first prototypical components of the Data Fabric. We will continue to focus on this in the coming year.