DROP is a two-year project funded by Fondazione Cariplo under the *Safe Territories 2024* scheme, focusing on flood risk management through soft measures. By shifting the emphasis from hazard reduction to helping communities adapt and coexist resiliently with floods, DROP aims to equip decision-makers with innovative tools to prioritise effective, sustainable, and socially accepted flood-risk measures at both regional and local levels.
Eurac Research coordinates the development of a community-based approach to co-design local risk-mitigation solutions, contributes to testing the decision-support system for regional risk management, and co-designs non-structural flood-management measures with the participating communities to support local adaptation policies.
In terms of outputs, DROP will produce practical tools to help communities and decision-makers improve their resilience to floods. These include:
– An improved vulnerability map for the case study area;
– A catalogue of non-structural measures and policies for flood resilience;
– Co-designed community-based soft solutions for flood risk management, developed through participatory processes;
– A policy brief to guide future non-structural flood-management actions;
– A calibrated and user-friendly digital decision-support system to help regional authorities choose the most suitable flood risk mitigation measures at the regional level;
– Establishment of a Community of Practice among municipalities, stakeholders, and residents to share knowledge and strengthen flood-resilience efforts.
