Multi-hazard approach and cumulative / cascading impacts

Opened

Programme Category

EU Competitive Programmes

Programme Name

Horizon Europe (2021-2027)

Programme Description

Horizon Europe is the European Union (EU) funding programme for the period 2021 – 2027, which targets the sectors of research and innovation. The programme’s budget is around € 95.5 billion, of which € 5.4 billion is from NextGenerationEU to stimulate recovery and strengthen the EU’s resilience in the future, and € 4.5 billion is additional aid.

Programme Details

Identifier Code

HORIZON-CL3-2026-01-DRS-02

Call

Multi-hazard approach and cumulative / cascading impacts

Summary

Advancing multi-hazard risk assessment and disaster resilience is a necessity. Building on the integrated all-hazard approach, the advancement will be achieved by integrating single-hazard models into next-generation predictive systems capable of analysing cascading and cumulative effects. A key focus should be on early and anticipatory action, improving the understanding of interactions between meteorological, geophysical, and technological hazards, including their compounding impacts on societies, economies, and critical infrastructure.

Detailed Call Description

Proposals should aim to develop and validate integrated forecasting models, that enhance the prediction and management of multi-hazard scenarios, supports flexibility and extensibility, and coordination of responses by incorporating real-time data, AI-driven analytics, and remote sensing technologies. These models should facilitate improved hazard forecasting by addressing challenges in platform interoperability and data exchange, ensuring that diverse hazard monitoring systems at local, national, and global levels can effectively communicate and operate in synergy.

Efforts should also explore the interoperability of regional and national hazard warning systems, enhancing global forecasting capabilities for hazards such as landslides triggered by extreme weather events, or cumulative damage modelling for earthquakes and their aftershocks. Research should address gaps in loss estimation models by considering the cascading and long-term impacts of disasters on infrastructure, the built environment, supply chains, and diverse needs of communities. Furthermore, proposals should contribute to the development of advanced tools and methodologies to assess the combined effects of multiple hazards on critical infrastructure, ensuring that disaster risk management strategies account for interdependencies across sectors This should include scenario-based stress testing, digital twins for risk modelling, and AI-powered decision-support systems, taking into account existing biases, to enhance resilience planning for lifeline services such as energy, water, transport and telecommunications.

A holistic, systemic, and cross-cutting approach should be applied to disaster risk management, taking into consideration climate change trends, environmental degradation, and vulnerabilities such as gender, age, disabilities and others social factors. The topic should lead to the creation of comprehensive Risk and Resilience Metrics, integrating physical, economic, and social dimensions to support decision-makers in designing effective prevention and adaptation strategies. Considering building on and leveraging from existing systems, such as the Copernicus Emergency Management Service (CEMS) the Destination Earth Platform or Risk Data Hub, could be beneficial.

Projects should conduct a stakeholder or market analysis and a roadmap or plan for uptake of the developed methodologies, findings, and technologies to the industry, the research and innovation community, and/or the relevant authorities.

Projects may take into account the assets but also particular challenges faced by the European outermost regions and may include entities from these regions in the consortium’s composition.

Projects should contribute to strengthening risk governance at multiple levels by fostering collaboration between scientific communities, policymakers, emergency responders, and infrastructure operators. Efforts should be made in leveraging citizens-generated content in social media and decentralised digital platforms for citizen-driven early warning and situational awareness. Alignment with EU policies, international risk reduction frameworks, and best practices in resilience planning should be ensured, maximizing the applicability and impact of the developed solutions. The Preparedness Union Strategy is a key document in this regard and includes a key action on developing an EU comprehensive risks and threats assessment. Finding synergies with projects from operational grants, such as the Knowledge for Action in Prevention & Preparedness (KAPP), is recommended.

Where applicable, proposals should leverage the data and services available through European Research Infrastructures federated under the European Open Science Cloud, as well as data from relevant Data Spaces. Particular efforts should be made to ensure that the data produced in the context of this topic is FAIR (Findable, Accessible, Interoperable and Re-usable).

Technology Readiness Level – Technology readiness level expected from completed projects

Call Total Budget

€8.000.000

Financing percentage by EU or other bodies / Level of Subsidy or Loan

70%

Expected EU contribution per project: €4.00 million

Thematic Categories

  • Environment and Climate Change
  • Information and Communication Technologies
  • Information Technology
  • Justice - Security
  • Research, Technological Development and Innovation
  • Water - Management of Water Resources

Eligibility for Participation

  • Businesses
  • Central Government
  • Legal Entities
  • Local Authorities
  • NGOs
  • Non Profit Organisations
  • Other Beneficiaries
  • Researchers/Research Centers/Institutions
  • Services Providers
  • Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs)
  • State-owned Enterprises

Eligibility For Participation Notes

Subject to restrictions for the protection of European communication networks.

Due to the scope of this topic, relevant international organisations with headquarters in a Member State or Horizon Europe Associated Country are exceptionally eligible for funding.

The following additional eligibility criteria apply:

This topic requires the active involvement, as beneficiaries, of at least 2 authorities in charge of disaster risk or crisis communication[[Authorities in charge of disaster risk or crisis communication entail public bodies operating at the national level that hold legally defined responsibilities in the area of disaster risk management. This includes national civil protection authorities as well as other institutions that can demonstrate, through appropriate legal or administrative acts, a formal mandate to design, coordinate, or implement national disaster risk prevention, preparedness, response, or crisis communication measures.]] and 2 representatives of local or regional authorities in charge of disaster response from at least 3 different EU Member States or Associated Countries. For these participants, applicants must fill in the table “Information about security practitioners” in the application form with all the requested information, following the template provided in the submission IT tool.

If projects use satellite-based earth observation, positioning, navigation and/or related timing data and services, beneficiaries must make use of Copernicus and/or Galileo/EGNOS (other data and services may additionally be used).

A number of non-EU/non-Associated Countries that are not automatically eligible for funding have made specific provisions for making funding available for their participants in Horizon Europe projects.

Call Opening Date

06/05/2026

Call Closing Date

05/11/2026

National Contact Point(s)

Research and Innovation Foundation

29a Andrea Michalakopoulou, 1075 Nicosia,
P.B. 23422, 1683 Nicosia
Telephone: +357 22205000
Fax: +357 22205001
Email: support@research.org.cy
Websitehttps://www.research.org.cy/en/

Contact Person:

Christakis Theocharous
Scientific Officer A’
Telephone: +357 22 20 50 29
Email: ctheocharous@research.org.cy