Introduction to PEARL
Zoran Vojinovic
Chair(s): dr. Ciavola
Tuesday 30 june 2015
8:30 - 9:00h
at Central America (level 0)
Themes: (T) Special session, (ST) Coasts at threat in Europe
Parallel session: 4H. Special Session: Coasts at Threat in Europe
Record disasters such as earthquakes, hurricanes (or typhoons), tsunamis, widespread flooding and pollution, droughts, extremes of snowfalls and temperatures _ all of which are associated with devastating losses and suffering _ occur almost daily. Out of all, coastal floods are one of the most dangerous and harmful natural hazards affecting urban areas adjacent to shorelines. Rapid urbanisation combined with climate change and poor governance means a significant increase in the risk of local surface flooding coinciding with high water levels in rivers and high tide or storm surges from the sea, posing a greater risk of devastation to coastal communities. The threats posed need to be addressed not just in terms of flood prediction and control, but taking into account governance and socio-economic issues. The present paper presents the FP7-ENV-2013 EU funded PEARL (Preparing for Extreme And Rare events in coastaL regions) project which brings together world leading expertise in both the domain of hydro-engineering and risk reduction and management services to pool knowledge and practical experience in order to develop more sustainable risk management solutions for coastal communities focusing on present and projected extreme hydro-meteorological events. project combines 24 partners and it aims to demonstrate its methodologies, tools and techniques on several European, Asian and Caribbean case study sites.
