Lessons learned / Practical Example

The Regional Tsunami Project is a regional initiative launched in 2017 by UNDP with funding from the Government of Japan to strengthen tsunami preparedness in schools and communities across the Asia-Pacific. The project works with governments and school systems to institutionalize risk education and evacuation drills, improve evacuation planning and routes, and make the drills regular and replicable.

ARC’s CBDP toolkit helps communities turn data on risks, vulnerabilities, and capacities into a practical disaster preparedness and response plan. It was developed in Afghanistan, where poverty, weak infrastructure, and environmental degradation increase the impact of floods, droughts, landslides, and other hazards. The approach is participatory (focus groups, observation, feedback) and involves local structures such as the CDMC/CDC, with actions phased into emergency, short, medium, and long-term. It also integrates environmental aspects and climate projections.

The Territori Aperti Disaster Preparedness Toolkit is a dynamic tool that gathers existing experiences and transforms them into useful recommendations and procedures for public bodies and citizens.

This manual presents the results of the work carried out within the CUIDAR project (Horizon 2020), focused on promoting a disaster resilience culture that actively includes children and adolescents. The manual documents activities conducted in Italy, Spain, Portugal, Greece, and the United Kingdom, showing how young people are not only vulnerable subjects but can also become key actors in disaster prevention, preparedness, and response.

The Ritorno Com’E.Ro. project was launched by Save the Children Italia in response to the devastating floods that struck Emilia-Romagna in May 2023. Its primary aim was to restore educational continuity for children and adolescents affected by the disaster, while fostering resilience and awareness of risk prevention within the school community. The initiative ran from November 2023 to May 2024 and involved 54 classes across five schools, reaching more than 1,100 students.

A structured system where Japanese municipalities and welfare institutions create personalized evacuation strategies for vulnerable people, verified through inclusive drills and coordinated with local support networks.

The project consists of three structured workshops: Explore (building awareness of risk and resilience through storytelling and games), Experience (role-playing emergency scenarios to practice safe behaviors), and Participate (hands-on engagement via VR or the dynamic team game “Corri il Rischio”). The initiative equips children with practical skills for emergency preparedness and fosters collaboration, decision-making, and climate crisis awareness, positioning Feel Safe as a pioneering model for integrating technology and education in resilience-building.

The CBDRR approach developed by Solidarités International is a participatory methodology that places affected communities at the centre of disaster risk analysis, planning, and action. It combines local knowledge with technical expertise to identify hazards, vulnerabilities, and capacities, and translates this shared analysis into concrete preparedness, mitigation, and response measures implemented at community level.

The case illustrates how disability-inclusive DRR has been advanced in Vanuatu by shifting from ad-hoc inclusion to more systematic engagement of persons with disabilities and their representative organisations in preparedness, response planning, and community decision-making.

COPE Disaster Champions provides free illustrated children’s books, educational jingles and a digital platform to teach disaster preparedness and risk awareness. Through storytelling, visuals and simple action-oriented messages, the initiative empowers children to understand risks and adopt safe behaviours before, during and after disasters.