EMfloodResilience

With this project called EM Floodresilience we focus on becoming better prepared for the next extreme flood event. 

Interreg Euregio Meuse-Rhine in the "post-flood" context

At Interreg Euregio Meuse-Rhine (EMR) they fund projects where partners work together across borders. They invest in projects around innovation, economy, social inclusion and training and territorial cohesion. By stimulating cross-border cooperation, they strengthen the economic and social fabric in the border region between Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands. The Interreg V-A EMR programme is investing nearly 100 million euros in the development of this Interreg area in the period up to 2023.

In total of 6.9 million is being invested into a Interreg project called EMFloodResilience. In Which will enable partner organizations to carry out projects focusing on the following aspects: improving weather and water forecasts, strengthening crisis response, and making spatial planning more climate-proof. 

EMFloodResilience: Eleven partners collaborate internationally against floods 

Following the floods in 2021 in Belgium, Germany and the Netherlands, 11 partners from the three countries have decided to join forces to combat flooding and improve water security. The climate is changing, and extreme weather situations will unfortunately become more and more frequent. That is why investments are being made to warn the population about the risks of impending floods. 

The aim of the EMfloodResilience project is to improve the euregional exchange of information and to broaden cooperation between public river management services. The main objective is to take advantage of the benefits of the location of the EMR during major crises and thus develop a concerted methodology to analyze the effects of the measures taken and their impacts on the EMR and its citizens. With the ultimate goal to become better prepared for the next extreme flood event and thereby prevent future loss of life and socio-economic damage. You can road more about this project on: https://emfloodresilience.eu/

This cross-border cooperation project has been made possible thanks to a contribution from the Interreg programme amounting to a total of 6.9  million euros. Project proposals for all these aspects have been submitted and approved by the Interreg programme authority for an amount of more than €8 million. The projects will run until 31 December 2023.

Involvement of ULiège as a project partner

In this project, ULiège contributes to tackling three main issues:

• In the EMR, flood hazard maps do not consider the floating debris blockage effects so far. However, current knowledge remains limited as regards the optimal structure and calibration of models able to relate i) flow conditions and structures characteristics to the probability of floating debris blockage and ii) floating debris blockage to flood conditions. The disastrous flood event of July 2021 gives the possibility to gain new knowledge which will enable to propose adapted models and then design recommendation and operational procedure for assessing the impact of floating debris during floods across the EMR.
• Estimating flood impact is instrumental in guiding the design and prioritization of flood risk reduction measures. However, current knowledge remains limited as regards the optimal structure of damage models and the calibration of their key parameters. The disastrous flood event of July 2021 gives the possibility to gain new knowledge which will bring improvements in the current impact models and, as such, in the tools used in practice for the evaluation, prioritization, and optimization of (portfolios of) risk reduction measures across the Euregio. Throughout the research, stakeholder’s involvement will foster interdisciplinary, international, and cross-sectoral collaboration. Cross-border effects will be considered as well.
• A physical site investigation report as well as a stakeholder scoping report on the feasibility of an operational living lab in the EMR Region. It will offer various stakeholders the opportunity to experiment and test in the actual water system and make this also available and visible to others.

The EMfloodResilience project is being carried out within the context of Interreg V-A Euregio MeuseRhine and is 90% funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

The project partners

1. Limburg Water Board (leadpartner)
2. Rijkswaterstaat
3. KNMI
4. Delft University of Technology
5. Gemeente Weert
6. Université de Liège
7. Province of Liège (BE)
8. De Vlaamse Waterweg
9. The Research Institute for Nature and Forest (INBO)
10. Wasserverband Eifel Rur
11. RWTH Aachen University

Service Public Wallonie (SPW) is an associate partner of this project. They appreciate this initiative and will attribute, based on their competences and capabilities, if possible and asked for.

Want to learn more about EMfloodResilience project?

Discover the project web page