FP7 funds flood decision support system

An FP7 project is funding ways to assist builders and local authorities keep homes and infrastructures safe in coastal areas prone to flooding.

The ‘Innovative technologies for safer European coasts in a changing climate’ (THESEUS) project is helping a package of software tools to work in any geographical or physical regions. The ICT includes a decision support system, and decision makers need to simply input conditions they are dealing with to receive a suitable result. THESEUS co-ordinator Barbara Zanuttigh, of Italy’s University of Bologna, said: “The short, medium and long term effects of building or developing with coastal communities can then be identified.”

The project’s handbook aims to help coastal managers apply the THESEUS methodology and select the best mitigation options. This is backed by a package of policy briefs to help decision makers identify strengths and weaknesses in existing policies, as well as key challenges they need to address.

European Research, Innovation and Science Commissioner Máire Geoghegan-Quinn said: “Flooding affects thousands of Europeans each year, and with climate change underway, it could affect many more in the future. EU research, funded under the Horizon 2020 programme, is helping to protect citizens and Europe’s economic wellbeing.”

The THESEUS project received €6.5m in EU funding and brought together partners from 12 EU countries (Belgium, Bulgaria, Denmark, France, Germany, Greece, Latvia, the Netherlands, Poland, Italy, Spain, UK) with counterparts from Ukraine, Russia, Mexico, China, Taiwan and the USA.