EU funded project CORE helps to build more resilient communities

The EU-funded CORE project is helping policymakers and stakeholders address threats from natural and human-made disasters. Events such as climate change, hurricanes, floods, and the COVID-19 pandemic have shown how important it is for communities to be prepared for disasters. These events have emphasised the need for better risk awareness and stronger resilience, both among people and decision-makers in the EU. The CORE project worked for three years to raise awareness and enhance crisis management, combining insights from both environmental and social sciences, CORE (sCience & human factOr for Resilient sociEty), aimed to help communities become more resilient and better equipped to face future challenges.

By analysing seven case studies, including the 2020 Enkatapuram industrial accident in India, the 2009 L’Aquila earthquake in Italy and the COVID-19 pandemic, the CORE project developed solutions to assess safety culture, social media communication strategies for crises, and educational programs on disaster preparedness. These tools were designed to help disaster management authorities, emergency responders, and policymakers improve crisis response. They were also aimed at educational institutions to teach students how to handle emergencies, fostering resilience at the community level.

A specific disaster preparedness app was developed for schools, helping students from Belgium, Austria, Italy, and Greece understand emergency response protocols. CORE was funded by the European Union’s Horizon 2020 program, with a total contribution of almost 5 million EUR. The project that had the duration of three years was coordinated by the University of Salerno, and it brought together a consortium of 8 research institutions, 5 SMEs, 4 first responders, and 1 municipality association.