In an era of increasing climate-related disasters, one thing is clear: floods, fires, and other extreme climate-related events do not stop at borders. Dr. Nicola Tollin, a leading expert in urban resilience with over 20 years of international experience, shares powerful insights on how cities can better manage climate-related disaster risks and build long-term resilience.
Climate-related disasters know no borders: why European territorial cooperation is key
- 09 April 2025
“It is important to have more cross-sectorial integration at national and at local level, integration between national policies and local actions, stakeholders’ participation and engagement of local communities.”
Dr. Nicola Tollin highlighted how Europe shall be supporting collaboration and exchange, as it does by common research and innovation frameworks like Horizon Europe and Interreg programmes, promoting the knowledge co-creation and exchange among European cities, for example bringing together Portugal, Spain and Sweden to prevent wildfires or Italy, Romania and Estonia to work on flood.
Interreg plays a key role in addressing disaster risk management related challenges by supporting cooperation initiatives under the EU cohesion policy. Many Interreg projects demonstrate the importance of cooperation, innovation and nature-based approaches in building resilience and enhancing preparedness for various hazards and threats which are becoming very frequent.
Find the complete interview here.