Disaster Risk Reducation Education

As part of a series of actions contributing to the topic of urban heat and wildfire risk management in the Europe and Central Asia region, UNDRR has released the report, Flames of Change: Innovating heat and wildfire governance for inclusive communities, and the accompanying special report on disability inclusion in DRR and prevention. This release is part of a broader thematic focus of the Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) Initiative on this important topic (a “Flames of Change” webinar was held on October 3, 2023) and marked a concrete follow up to the implementation of the European Forum for DRR Roadmap 2021-2030 and the Action-Oriented Dialogue organised in October 2022 in Greece on this specific topic. 

The development of the Flames of Change report, and accompanying special report on disability inclusion, is the result of contributions of a dedicated working group, composed of experts from the MCR2030 Resilience Hubs and partners, the European Science and Technology Advisory Group, as well as representatives of UNDRR's stakeholder engagement mechanism including youth and persons living with disabilities. The group was led by two lead contributors, Konstantina Karydi, Managing Director and Senior Advisor at the Athens Office of the Resilient Cities Catalyst and Sofia Karma, Director of the European Centre for Forest Fires (ECFF), Council of Europe, EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement.

The main report, organised around 9 different case study contributions, showcases how cities are coping with the challenges of extreme weather events and working towards urban resilience in line with the global agenda, such as the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. The special report focuses on disability inclusion in disaster risk reduction and prevention, underlining the importance of understanding the risk situations from the perspective of persons with disabilities. 

The lead contributing authors Konstantina Karydi and Sofia Karma said, 

“In a global scene of unprecedented climate conditions and multiple emerging hazards, it is crucial to act promptly upon tacking existing vulnerability drivers and adopt a cross-sectoral inclusive approach for strengthening disaster resilience of the Cities by leaving no one behind.” 

These reports are expected to disseminate good practices of climate-related disaster management and share different challenges and experiences faced by cities. Additionally, the reports contribute to the implementation of the Europe and Central Asia Regional Forum for Disaster Risk Reduction Roadmap (EFDRR) for 2021-2030.