SAFER 2003-2008
Individuals, local communities, companies and infrastructure are all being affected by flooding with increasing regularity as one consequence of global warming. Improvements in risk awareness and preparation for extreme events can provide a cost efficient contribution to flood and risk management.
Within the SAFER (Strategies and Actions for Flood Emergency Risk Management) project the partners coming from Germany, Ireland, Scotland and Switzerland developed innovative strategies to prevent and mitigate fluvial and coastal flood damage. The five partner regions involved in the project work have been adopting a common approach in implementing these strategies. The project was approved under the INTERREG IIIB NWE Programme and part-funded by the European Union (ERDF) from 2003 to 2008.
Numerous results and products have been achieved in close cooperation with the SAFER partners. The project lifetime was characterised by a vivid partnership that resulted in high quality achievements. This homepage sums up the results and products of the project as well as the background information like the project design, founding etc. The project partners will continue their activities in European, national and regional projects like the INTERREG IV project Flood Resilien City. The focus of all these follow up projects is the management of flood risk.
The main task of all partners in the next years is an effective implementation of the Directive 2007/60/EC on the assessment and management of flood risks (EU Floods Directive, effective since October 2007). In the scope of SAFER, flood hazard maps were produced for the project areas and a preliminary evaluation of the risk was performed. From the beginning, the close cooperation between water management and urban and regional planning experts as well as community planning departments has been a basic prerequisite for successful working. This made it possible that essential parts of the EU Floods Directive – the making of flood hazard maps and the involvement of the public – have already been fulfilled today.
The three main products of SAFER: flood hazard maps (FHM), the flood partnerships (FPS) and the improvement of the flood emergency management (FEM) are an invaluable basis for the necessary activities to implement the European Floods Directive.
