About the project

In this new context, one of the most important things is to involve all the citizens in the new challenging aspects that are rising in these years. When speaking of natural disasters, not being aware, not knowing who to call, how to act, where to look for updated info, is a key reason for exposure to severe risk. This is particularly true for non-native people. Cities are made up of and by citizens, who need to be recognized as key actors so that results can be gained from the policies and investments.
The European project AMARE-EU focuses specifically on developing concrete, low-cost and easy-to-be-applied solutions to involve and inform those who, due to linguistic, social, economic, and cultural factors, are at severe risk in case of a natural disaster.

Thanks to a multi-sector and multi-skilled partnership composed of organizations active in the field of natural disasters, cultural cooperation, smart and resilient policies, cities coordination, migrants support and integration, a dedicated raising awareness toolkit and related communication campaign have been developed and implemented.

Project activities start from the development of an online self-assessment tool to evaluate the capacity of cities to foster a culture of prevention in the presence of multicultural societies. This tool, together with an on-line library covering topics such as city resilience, multiculturalism and citizens involvement, will remain available throughout the project’s duration and beyond, and will help to increase the awareness cities have about the project’s topics.

Attracting and accessible materials related to risk reduction, mitigation of adverse consequences of disasters in local communities and citizens’ involvement have also been identified and adapted to the needs of multicultural societies. This material, together with proper guidelines and good practices, constitute a toolkit supporting city administrators in ensuring the most effective involvement of non-native citizens in prevention and preparedness strategies, in order to create safer and more resilient communities.

At the same time, 4 European pilot cities were selected through a call for interest. In these cities the proposed approaches will be tested and implemented, with the direct support and expertise of project partners. Specific analysis, training and planning activities will be implemented in each of these cities, including the involvement of non-native citizens and the delivery of an awareness-raising campaign. This will allow for the validation of an innovative approach and set of supporting tools, that will then be made available for transfer and implementation throughout.