CoastWAVE project: 'Strengthening the Resilience of Coastal Communities in the Northeast Atlantic, Mediterranean Region and connected seas to the Impact of Tsunamis and Other Sea Level-Related Coastal Hazards'
On 17 and 20 December 2021 the Intergovernmental Oceanographic Commission of UNESCO launched the project with an online kick-off workshop. The workshop was organized with the participation of 7 Member States (Cyprus, Egypt, Greece, Malta, Morocco, Spain and Turkey) and other key project partners, like the Joint Research Centre (JRC), i.e. the European Commission's science and knowledge service, and supporting countries (for technical advice), like France and Italy. Representatives of the "Intergovernmental Coordination Group for the Tsunami Warning System in the Northeast Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas region" (ICG/NEAMTWS) were also invited to participate.
Over the years, the European Union Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operation (DG-ECHO) provided essential support for millions of people in the immediate aftermath of a disaster. Within the framework of the mechanism, the European Commission has significantly invested to develop early warning systems. There is a specific mandate and legal base to proactively use in DG-ECHO, and in the context of tsunami to complement national and UNESCO/IOC efforts to establish and further develop the NEAMTWS in various types of activities. In particular, the EU DG-ECHO funded the European Commission Joint Research Centre (JRC) to develop tsunami scenario databases, analysis tools, and alerting devices.
Previous funding to NEAMTWS include the (I) NEAMTIC project focused on tools and a platform for public awareness dissemination; (ii) the TSUMAPS-NEAM project, which aims to provide the necessary tools for assessing the impact at the target coastline. The EU DG-ECHO participated and co-financed tsunami exercises in the Euro Mediterranean region, such as the recent NEAMWave21 exercise. Last but not least, DG-ECHO financially supported the Tsunami Last Mile Projects, implemented first phase in Greece and Turkey (2018-2019) as the first step towards building Tsunami Ready coastal communities, and then in Indonesia and Malta (2020-2021).
The CoastWAVE project is the UNESCO/IOC's taking over of the successful Tsunami Last Mile pilot projects, which will continue to be co-funded within the Union Civil Protection Mechanism framework. The innovative and integrated solutions that are tested in the project could and will become a common practice in the Mediterranean region hopefully leading towards recognized Tsunami Ready coastal communities.
Link: http://www.ioc-tsunami.org/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=10&Itemid=14&lang=en
