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Workshop on Risk Management Capability Assessment

Intro

14th - 15th December 2017, Ispra, Italy

The Decision No 1313/2013/EU on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) aims to promote a culture of prevention and preparedness, emphasising the development of capacities to deal with risk. To that end, Member States should share with the European Commission the results of their national risk assessments and of the assessment of their Risk Management Capability every three years. In order to support countries in the latter, the Risk Management Capability Assessment Guidelines (Commission Notice 2015/C 261/03) propose a flexible methodology to evaluate the administrative, technical and financial capacities of countries to carry out risk assessments and plan and implement risk prevention and preparedness measures.

Risk Management Capability is defined in these guidelines as "the ability of a Member State or its regions to reduce, adapt to or mitigate risks identified in its risk assessments to levels that are acceptable in that Member State". The broad scope of the guidelines facilitates a generic evaluation of the capability of the country to face risk as a first approach to understand which capabilities are in place and which are lacking. However, the methodology proposed does not go into detail how the results of the risk assessments are actually used in the evaluation of capabilities, limiting the use of it for the proposal of measure to face the potential events identified. Likewise, if the goal is to promote systems that are resilient, it is necessary to cover all the phases of the Disaster Risk Management (DRM) cycle, including response and recovery[1].

The use of capability assessment to link the results of the risk assessment with the definition of risk management actions is systematic for some countries such as the Netherlands[2], UK[3] or Sweden[4], but not evident for other Member States[5]. The guidelines have been tested several times already:  the DG ECHO co-funded project "From Gaps to Caps"[6] used them as a reference point to develop a common understanding of capability assessment methods for the Baltic Sea Region based on the use of scenarios, exercises and real experience; and the 2016 EU peer review of Estonia[7] focused on risk management capability.

Objectives and Outcomes

The workshop aims to boost the link between risk assessment exercises and DRM planning through the intermediate step between both: the risk management capability assessment (RMCA). In particular the objectives are:

  • Facilitate the preparation of the risk management capabilities assessment that needs to be shared with the European Commission, as stated in the Decision on a Union Civil Protection Mechanism.
  • Exchange information and lessons learned on methodologies and resources that could be used in order to plan and implement measures to deal with disaster risk.
  • Stimulate and clarify linkages between risk assessment and other activities to manage risk, in particular with the definition and implementation of policies.

The expected outcomes are:

  • Increased understanding of the concept of "capabilities" and the process of "capability assessment" as a tool for linking risk assessments and disaster risk management plans.
  • Reached a common understanding on the information of the RMCA to provide to the European Commission.
  • Complemented the existing Guidelines with new insight and lessons learned.
  • Identified practices that could be tested in new contexts, such as exploiting the synergies between DRR and CCAA communities, and activities that could be developed to support Member States in evaluating their national capacities.

Approach

The workshop will be a space for Member States to share and discuss experiences in carrying out capability assessments and to plan measures to manage risk. The workshop will be divided in three sessions: two cases would be hazard specific (floods and pandemics) and the third would tackle cases of multi-hazard and the link with climate change adaptation, such as the Actions plans formulated in the initiative Covenant of Mayor for Climate & Energy[8]. Having in mind the Risk Management Capability Assessment Guidelines, the case studies would analyse the technical, financial and administrative capacities that should be in place to reduce the probability and consequences of flood and pandemic events. It would be encouraged the analysis of all four stages of DRM: prevention/mitigation, preparedness, response and recovery.

The workshop would be addressed to:

  • Policy makers related to Disaster Risk Reduction, in particular to the ones engaged in implementing disaster risk management plans.
  • Technical and scientific personnel from the Civil Protection or any other agency in charge of assessing risk and/or performing RMCA.
  • Staff from the Finance Ministry, involved in the formulation and implementation of policies to reduce disaster risk.

We particularly encourage the participation of personnel with the mentioned profiles and related with experience in flood or pandemics management.

 

[1] Mitchell, T. and Harris, K. (2012). Resilience: a risk management approach.

[2] Following the National Safety and Security Strategy (Programma Nationale Veiligheid 2007).

[3] Based on the National Resilience Capabilities Programme (2013).

[4] The Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB) (2016). A summary of risk areas and scenario analyses 2012–2015.

[5] Commission Staff Working Document Overview of Natural and Man-made Disaster Risks the European Union may face.

[6] http://www.gapstocaps.eu/2017/01/31/final-report/

[7] http://ec.europa.eu/echo/sites/echo-site/files/estonia_peer_review_report_-_en.pdf

[8] http://www.covenantofmayors.eu/index_en.html

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