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Disaster risk solutions

Scalable and replicable case studies to prevent disasters.

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A catalogue of evidence-based practices to reduce disaster risk.

Concrete innovations, inventions, and strategies are reducing the impacts of disasters worldwide. These practical case studies and proven strategies address various aspects of disaster risk.

The documented successes, measurable achievements, avoided disasters, and tangible outcomes serve as lessons for those planning actions to enhance resilience, reduce vulnerability, and protect communities from the adverse effects of disasters.

The case studies you will find below encompass a wide range of practical DRR measures, including early warning systems, community-based initiatives, green and grey infrastructure improvements, policy implementations, and innovative technologies that have been applied and proven effective in real-world scenarios.

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Children playing with water in fountain in Harbour drive in downtown San Diego.
Update

The Rockefeller Foundation identifies critical gaps in city responses to climate-induced health threats

The analysis outlines a three-step action plan for action and commits more than $1 million to helping cities save lives
Rockefeller Foundation, the
Bangkok residents navigate heavy floods by boat
Update

How to save a sinking city

What do Venice, Jakarta, Manilla and Bangkok have in common? They are, or were, sinking cities. Groundwater extraction plays an important part in all cases. The good news is that this can be avoided.
Wageningen University and Research Centre
A women farmer in Zimbabwe walking along her field checking the crops
Update

Zimbabwe: Water project offers a garden of hope in drought-stricken region

Recognizing the dire need in Mwenezi, the Zimbabwe Red Cross Society, with support from the IFRC, has initiated several life-saving projects aimed at mitigating the impact of the drought.
International Federation of Red Cross and Red Crescent Societies (IFRC)
2023 Canadian wildfires in Nova Scotia
Update

After years of wildfires, Algeria tames the flames

In Algeria's Tizi Ouzo, new planes, a drone and public awareness have paid dividends this fire season, with no deaths reported
Context
The Wien river in Vienna, Austria next to railway tracks
Update

'Our plan worked': How Vienna prepared itself for a 5,000-year flood

One cornerstone of Vienna's flood defence system is an artificial island, the Danube Island, and a flood control channel, the New Danube. Both were built in the 1970s, in reaction to a powerful flood in 1954 that had overwhelmed existing defences.
British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)
Flooded plain adjacent to a river
Research briefs

Reducing floodplain development doesn't need to be complex, say researchers

A new study uncovers evidence suggesting that, contrary to expectations, most U.S. cities are not doing too badly in avoiding development in areas prone to flooding.
Oxford University Press
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Coloured houses on a windy day
Disaster risk reduction and disaster risk management
The policy objective of anticipating and reducing risk is called disaster risk reduction (DRR). Disaster risk management (DRM) can be thought of as the implementation of DRR, since it describes the actions that aim to achieve the objective of reducing risk.

Featured stories

Houses that can float could protect vulnerable people from flooding

This concept retrofits houses with flotation devices and tethers them to poles - allowing the house to rise with floodwaters and descend to their foundations when the flood subsides.

Can wildfire prevention offer sustainable business opportunities?

Because of climate change, wildfires are becoming more intense and frequent. Prevention measures often come with a hefty price tag. Across Europe, fire-smart solutions make wildfire prevention more sustainable, by offering ecological, economic and social benefits.

Rain-related early warning in Japan

“The risk is imminent” translates as KiKIKURU in Japanese. It’s the name of an innovative early warning system for rain-related hazards in Japan. KIKIKURU was developed by the Japan Meteorological Agency (JMA). The system provides real-time hazard updates using a high spatial resolution of 1 km.

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Developing local-level solutions

Is your city resilient? Does its resilience help its citizens to prosper and flourish? Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) is a unique cross-stakeholder initiative for improving local resilience. See how cities around the world build their capacities to tackle disasters.

MCR2030 is a place where cities can find guidance and support to enhance understanding on risk reduction and resilience, to improve strategic planning to reduce risk and build resilience, and to take actions and progress along the resilience roadmap.

See below news from cities that have taken the leap to reduce disaster risk.

Join MCR2030

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