Introduction
This eLearning module has been co-designed with stakeholders from the DIRECTED Real World Lab, primarily with civil protection stakeholders in Emilia-Romagna, Italy. It focuses on the practical interoperability challenges across data and modelling, communication and governance that hinder early action ahead of extreme climate events like flooding and wildfires.
Drawing on the co-development and application of the Risk-Tandem Framework and Data Fabric, the module shares real-world learning from the Emilia-Romagna Real World Lab in Italy. It is primarily aimed at civil protection officers, though the tools, methods and insights are relevant to a wider range of practitioners working across Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Climate Change Adaptation (CCA).
By the end of this module, you will be able to:
- Explain the concept of interoperability and identify the key data, modelling, communication and governance gaps that hinder effective disaster risk management
- Apply the Data Fabric and SaferPlaces platform to access real-time flood mapping and risk assessment outputs to support operational decision-making
- Describe how disaster simulation exercises can be designed and used to test preparedness procedures, trial new tools and strengthen coordination across actors
- Apply lessons from real-world experiences in the Emilia-Romagna Real World Lab to identify interoperability challenges in your own context and access practical tools and resources to begin addressing them
Part 1: Interoperability challenges for disaster risk management
Effective disaster risk management depends on information flowing freely between people, organisations and systems. Yet in practice, the tools, data and communication channels used across DRM and CCA processes rarely connect.
This section of the module explores interoperability and its gaps, defined as anything that “negatively influences the seamless exchange of information between systems”, spanning data and modelling, governance and communication. Drawing on Real World Lab experiences across Europe, we examine what these gaps look like in practice and how to bridge them, from APIs that help models and data connect, to the critical work of building relationships, establishing trust and developing a common language across sectors.
Watch the introduction video to get started (UPCOMING), then work through the eLearning resource (UPCOMING) to deepen your understanding. For the conceptual foundations underpinning this work on interoperability, explore our Perspective Paper.
Another tool is the Climate Connectivity Hub, which can help people working across DRM and Climate Change Adaptation connect, find relevant information, and make better-informed decisions: