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24/07/2025 |
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Flash News from the
Disaster Risk Management
Knowledge Centre
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Welcome to the DRMKC Flash News, your gateway to the latest insights and innovations in disaster risk management.
In these very days, Europe is facing a multitude of pressing issues, including devastating droughts that have been evolving over 120 years, and a growing threat of aridification that puts billions of people at risk. The threat of wildfires is also looming, highlighting the importance of accurate monitoring and disaster loss data management and the need for urgent action to build resilience.
To address these challenges, cutting-edge tools and flagship reports have been developed, including the Risk Data Hub new Disaster Losses and Damages Dashboard, the flagship report on Analysis of Risk Europe is facing, the Global Human Settlement – Open Building Attribute Table (GHS-OBAT) dataset, or information systems to monitor wildfires. Artificial Intelligence is starting to play a crucial role in disaster risk management, with enhanced early warning systems and risk assessments. You can read about these and other scientific advancements in this Flash News!
Finally, we are excited to invite you to the upcoming joint DRMKC annual seminar and the Copernicus Emergency Management Service annual gathering (CEMS). Mark your calendar for 4-6 November, Turin Italy for the ‘Science for Preparedness Conference’, which will provide opportunities for exchanging knowledge, testing new tools, and connecting with others committed to advancing science-based crisis preparedness and response, in the framework of the newly established European Preparedness Union Strategy.
Enjoy the reading!
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Flagship Reports and News
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Tools and Datasets
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New RDH Disaster Losses and Damages Dashboard
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A new Risk Data Hub Disaster Losses and Damages Dashboard has been developed for a comprehensive overview of disaster losses throughout Europe, enabling users to examine disaster losses across the EU-27 and at the country level from 1980 to the present.
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Faces Behind Science – Jesús San-Miguel on wildfire monitoring
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Wildfires are on the rise globally. A video interview shows how forestry expert Jesús San-Miguel and his team at the JRC use Copernicus satellites to provide near real-time data on fires in Europe and beyond.
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GHS OBAT - Open building Attribute Table
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The GHS-OBAT dataset enriches 2.3B global building footprints from the GHSL with attributes like age, height, function, and compactness—enabling detailed, footprint-level analysis to support diverse global policy and research applications.
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EU Digital Building Stock Model R2025: An enhanced model with satellite-based attributes
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DBSM R2025 is an enhanced EU-wide digital building stock model with authoritative footprints and updated per-building data on height, compactness, age, and use—supporting energy policy, renovation, and housing initiatives.
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GFM 4.0: A major update to the Copernicus Global Flood Monitoring with improved accuracy and a new post-processing approach
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GFM 4.0 enhances the Copernicus Global Flood Monitoring tool with new topography-based filtering, adaptive thresholds, and refined post-processing, improving accuracy and reducing flood under-detection, especially for small-scale events.
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Events and Calls
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Science for Preparedness Conference (4-6 November)
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| Mark your calendars for the upcoming DRMKC seminar, this year in a special format as joint event with the Copernicus Emergency Management Service. |
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Human Planet Forum 2025
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| Join this event (19-21 November; JRC Ispra) exploring how geospatial data can inform safer, more inclusive and sustainable decisions. The event will showcase new data, foster partnerships, and shape the next phase of the GEO Human Planet Initiative. |
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Additional Resources
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Hybrid experts in disaster risk management: an experience of role playing in international evidence for policy schools
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| Explore how hybrid experts bridge science and policy to improve disaster risk management through immersive role-playing experiences. |
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Potential and limitations of machine learning modeling for forecasting Acute Food Insecurity
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| This article reviews how machine learning is used to improve predictions and early warning systems for Acute Food Insecurity, exploring the types of data involved, the challenges with data access, and what current methods can do well. |
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How is generative AI impacting our economy, society and policy?
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| See how generative AI is transforming jobs, education, and healthcare while raising tough questions for policymakers. |
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Optimizing warnings for hydrologic ensemble prediction systems
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| Learn how smarter warning systems are revolutionizing flood forecasts, helping decision-makers act faster and more accurately. |
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The JRC explains: Could the Amazon rainforest become a savannah?
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| Severe droughts and deforestation could push the Amazon rainforest across a critical threshold, transforming it into a savannah-like ecosystem. An irreversible change with profound ecological consequences. |
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Increasing aridification calls for urgent global adaptive solutions and policy action
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| Find out why growing global aridification puts billions of people at risk and what urgent action is needed to build resilience. |
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New technologies, new risks, new opportunities: internal security and law enforcement in 2030
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| Uncover how AI, drones, and quantum tech are reshaping security in Europe and bringing new power and new challenges. |
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Rethinking societal resilience in a time of polycrisis
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| See how overlapping crises demand bold, targeted policies to strengthen resilience from local to global levels. |
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Who leads, who lags? Inter-urban inequities in European climate adaptation funding and financing
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| Explore why some European cities lead in climate adaptation funding while others risk being left dangerously behind. |
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Local banks and flood risk: the case of Germany
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| See how future climate scenarios could impact German banks and why staying below 1.5°C matters for financial stability. |
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Multi-risk and climate change resilience: RETURN, an innovative project under NextGenEU funds
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| In Italy, an important and innovative research project under NextGenEU funds focuses on multi-hazard risk analysis and climate change resilience: RETURN (Multi-risk science for resilient communities under a changing climate) unites 1,000+ scientists to advance multi-hazard risk research, digital ecosystems, and climate adaptation tools. Learn how bridging academia, public agencies, and private firms can help boost Italy’s disaster resilience and innovation capacity. |
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Earth observation in support of EU policies for urban climate adaptation
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| Discover how cutting-edge Earth Observation data is transforming urban climate adaptation across the EU. |
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An epidemiological knowledge graph extracted from the World Health Organization’s Disease Outbreak News
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| Learn how AI-driven knowledge graphs are revolutionizing global disease surveillance and outbreak response. |
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Benchmarking exercise on the radiological consequence calculation due to a potential severe accident in Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant
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| See an analysis and the results of an inter-comparison activity on the radiological consequences of a postulated severe nuclear accident at the Zaporizhzhia Nuclear Power Plant. |
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