A flexible multi-hazard service supporting the Emergency Response Coordination Center of the European Union. Provides early warnings, comprehensive 24/7 reporting, and - on request - analyses by expert panels.
Prompt response to natural disasters through evaluation of the area, infrastructures and the population affected is of extreme importance to civil protections in order to draw proper contingency planning. Early Warning Systems therefore play a crucial role, linking – for some hazards – the pre-disaster phase to the response phase, whereas, for others where it is impossible to make any forecast, provide the disaster first assessment to the response. In this context, integration and collaboration between the European Emergency Response Capacity (EERC) and the relevant scientific and operational centres in the Member States, can be fundamental for operating in a coordinated and coherent way when trans-boundary natural disasters occur (e.g., earthquakes at frontier borders, tsunamis in the Mediterranean basin, severe or extreme weather phenomena causing floods, storm surges or forest fires, …).
ARISTOTLE builds up on and adds value to existing information systems and sources, and that it fully respects national and regional responsibilities. As required, a multi-hazard scientific partnership and its governance will be created to ensure the holistic understanding of crisis management in natural disasters with interrelated consequences and cascade & linked effects, which may lead to an unforeseen chain of events. Within ARISTOTLE, a collaborative network of scientific and operational experts will be established across Europe to exploit the available scientific and technological expertise and to assure mutual learning and improved coordination based on a multi-hazard approach, including the definition and implementation of the required prevention countermeasures, enhancing the information provided to the ERCC and, through the governance structure, ensuring a collaborative dialogue with the national mandated civil protection authorities.
ARISTOTLE is a pilot project that aims at providing accurate and authoritative information on natural disaster to ERCC through three cornerstones:
•designing a flexible multi-hazard scalable early-warning service
•comprehensive reporting of the available information gathered by the 24/7 operational centers
•providing expert analysis by an expert panel readily available upon request through e.g. teleconferencing.
