Lessons learned / Practical Example

Local Resilience Agents (LRAs) are community members trained in disaster risk reduction, first aid, and search and rescue to supplement local government capacity and disseminate early warnings.

“Terremoti d’Italia” (Earthquakes of Italy) is a touring exhibition promoted by the Italian Department of Civil Protection, designed to raise public awareness and understanding of seismic risk in Italy. The project combines scientific knowledge, historical memory, technological innovation, and experiential learning to strengthen a culture of prevention. Through an accessible, interactive, and multidisciplinary approach, the exhibition engages citizens of all ages, particularly young people, encouraging them to take an active role in disaster risk reduction.

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.