Forest fires and floods: a European meeting in Rome on best practices and lessons learnt

The UCPM Lessons Learnt Programme, Meeting on wildfires and floods in 2023, the annual gathering aimed at sharing and disseminating good practices on risk management in Europe, will take place in Rome from November 30 to December 1.

Forest fires and floods will be the main focus of the meeting organised by the Civil Protection Department and the European Commission, which will be attended by representatives of the Member States and the Union Civil Protection Mechanism.

Established by Decision No. 1313/2013/EU and amended by Decision 420/2019/EU, the Union Mechanism is the network of the national civil protection authorities of the 27 EU Member States joined by 10 other participating countries. The Lessons Learnt Programme is one of the tools of the Mechanism that focuses on improving its efficiency and effectiveness by encouraging the exchange of knowledge and experiences on the entire disaster management cycle, from forecasting and prevention to emergency response.

The Programme also integrates lessons learnt from interventions performed outside the Union, with a strong focus on synergies between Union Mechanism assistance activities and humanitarian response.

European Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič, responsible for civil protection and humanitarian aid, and Minister for Civil Protection and Sea Policies Nello Musumeci will open the two-day event in Rome.

The programme will start on November 30 with an insight into the 2023 forest fire season in Europe and will continue with a focus on the experience in Greece, on fire risk forecasting and prevention activities and on European missions in Canada, Chile, and Tunisia.

On December 1, flood risk will be at the centre of the agenda, with talks on lessons learnt in Italy and Slovenia and on risk prevention and management systems. The programme will end in the middle of the day with a presentation on the European intervention in Libya.