Dear DRMKC subscriber,

We are at the beginning of a new year, after one which made us clear –once again- that the time to act for Disaster Risk Reduction is now. The second worse season of forest fires in Europe, the floods in Central Europe sadly confirmed the messages of the Sixth Assessment Report of the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and anticipated the conclusions of the COP26: there is no more time, irreversible climate change is already occurring, we can only mitigate it.

DRMKC is already moving in this direction: climate change and its impact was a central topic of the fifth DRMKC Annual Seminar in November 2021 and is at the core of all our plans for 2022 and beyond it. In this issue of the DRMKC newsletter you will find a summary of DRM achievements in the last quarter of 2021, as well as info on the ongoing research, operational tools, and planned actions to better understand and deal with the climate change process from multiple stand points.

DRMKC has been very active in 2021 and achieved results on all its three main activity lines: new knowledge production, nurturing partnerships and pursuing innovative solutions for DRM. Way less than this would have been possible without the close collaboration among all the relevant Commission services, which we thank for the sustained engagement and contribution.

From this issue, we decided to share the updates on DRM science ordering them under the main objectives of the DRMKC plan of action for 2022, i.e.

- Reaching a common understanding of risk management  
- Taking advantage of existing knowledge and technologies
- Identifying opportunities for future sustainable development
- Bringing Commission closer to our Member States
- Commission reaching out beyond its boarders

Looking forward, we are guided by the “Joint Declaration identifying key legislative priorities for 2022” of the leaders of the EU institutions one the one side, and by the reflections received from Member States and other partners of DRMKC about the emerging DRM needs and the expectations from the Science Pillar of the Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network. The inception of a lively and useful Science Pillar will be the focus for DRMKC in 2022, aiming at integrating the immense value added of the scientific knowledge of Member States.