A-DROP is a project aiming to improve the capacity of Alpine regions to deal with droughts and promote sustainable water management. The project involves eleven partners from five countries across the European Alpine area, who are jointly developing solutions for drought risk management by refining monitoring and forecasting tools specific to the Alps. These innovations will support local authorities and contribute to a drought forecasting system for the entire Alpine region. Specifically, A-DROP produces high-resolution climate and hydrological data that are accessible and can be integrated into local systems. Furthermore, the project uses climate models to estimate the effects of climate change in the Alps, supporting decision-making and adaptations in five pilot areas. A-DROP also offers training and awareness programs to facilitate the adoption of successful practices and the transition to new sustainable water governance strategies.
European projects
A-DROP Project
Drought Prediction in the Alps
Partners
Project Partners and the Role of the Aosta Valley Functional Center
The Aosta Valley Functional Center is a project partner with a fundamental role, within a pilot project, of translating the project's technical results into usable information for the adoption of local management policies. To support the Aosta Valley Drought Observatory, based on the information processed within the project, the Functional Center will design and build an IT platform. This platform will make the necessary data easily accessible and usable, even through specially designed infographics, for the political body to make decisions regarding drought management and the mitigation of its effects. The platform will also allow for the extraction of automatic and semi-automatic reports to summarize information based on the needs of various stakeholders.
Other Project Partners:
Eurac Research (Lead partner)
Slovene Chamber of Agriculture and Forestry - Institute of Agriculture and Forestry Maribor
Abest-Horizon
Federal Institute for Geology, Geophysics, Climatology and Meteorology
Ludwig-Maximilians-Universitaet Muenchen
CIMA Research Foundation
National Research Institute for Agriculture, food and environment
Technical University of Munich
Technical University of Vienna
University of Ljubljana
Total project budget: 2.444.364,70 €
ERDF grants: 1.833.274 €
Program period: 2021 – 2027
PrévRisk-CC
Prevention of Risks and Adaptation to Climate Change in the Espace Mont-Blanc territories
Mountain areas are more affected by the effects of climate change compared to the European average: the phenomenon has intensified in recent years; for example, 2022 was the hottest year ever recorded in the Western Alps. In the Mont-Blanc Massif, this phenomenon is reflected in the accelerated retreat of glaciers, the melting of permafrost, the destabilization of soils, and changes in the water cycle, resulting in an increase in natural risks and the appearance of new risks, often with cascading effects.
PrévRisk-CC aims to deepen the scientific study of these natural risks, to organize a large-scale awareness and training campaign, while carrying out operational monitoring and adaptation actions on the ground. The project brings together a cross-border community of organizations associated with the Espace Mont-Blanc (EMB): French, Italian, and Swiss local authorities, operational mountain rescue organizations, and research centers in the area.
The project is the first operational result of the position taken by the three Vice-Presidents of the Espace Mont-Blanc on May 5, 2022, subsequently validated by the Conférence transfrontalière Mont-Blanc on June 17, 2022, to commit to adaptation to the effects of global warming through the Espace Mont-Blanc's Feuille de Route: PrévRisk-CC implements the Feuille de Route for adaptation to the effects of global warming in the Espace Mont-Blanc, in particular the section dedicated to resilience to natural risks.
Partners
Project Partners and the Role of the Aosta Valley Functional Center
The Functional Center of the Aosta Valley Region aims to carry out a study using big data and classic sources to determine the distribution of the floating population for both emergency management and civil protection planning purposes.
The PrévRisk-CC Project sees the Functional Center of the Aosta Valley as a partner. The lead partner is the Fondazione Montagna sicura. The other partners are ARPA Valle d'Aosta, the Association la Chamoniarde, the CNRS - EDYTEM, INRAE, the Municipality of Courmayeur, the CCVCMB (Communauté de Communes de la Vallée de Chamonix Mont-Blanc), and the Canton of Valais.
Budget: 2.583.154,91