BETA will coordinate LocAll4Flood, a project on managing the response to flash floods in the Mediterranean

This week has taken place, virtually, the launch meeting of LocAll4Flood, a new European project funded by the Interreg Euro-Med program and coordinated from the BETA Technology Center of the UVic-UCC. The consortium, formed by entities from Greece, Italy, Bulgaria, Malta, Catalonia and the Balearic Islands, will work to create a new integrated governance model designed to manage more effectively the problem of flash floods in this region.

Floods, particularly flash floods caused by heavy rainfall, represent a major threat in the Mediterranean region, especially in its smaller basins and islands. Climate change exacerbates these risks and increases the need to work to increase their resilience by adopting prevention, adaptation and mitigation measures. Part of these measures will be based on nature-based solutions, one of the areas of expertise that CT BETA has been developing in recent years.

The new LocAll4Flood governance model will be developed from an integrated, bottom-up perspective and will seek to involve as many stakeholders as possible in improving the management of this type of risk. Once designed, it will be tested in nine pilot territories in six regions sensitive to this issue.

To a large extent, the definition of this project is the result of a previous project funded by the Euroregion’s Water call, which already served to identify integrated sustainable solutions to improve the response capacity of public administrations and citizens to flash floods.