resilience
Heatwaves: how can Europe make its cities healthier and be better prepared?
Extreme weather events such as heatwaves are no longer merely an environmental concern; they are recognised as a global public health emergency. According to the WHO, approximately 175,000 deaths annually in the European region are linked to extreme heat. As these harmful events become more frequent, affecting both our health and our healthcare system, the ...
A scientist’s opinion: interview with Dr Paulo Morgado on extreme weather and the impact on our health
Dr Paulo Morgado is associate professor at the Institute of Geography and Spatial Planning of the University of Lisbon (Portugal). He studies smart cities and how city design affects the human brain and health. We often talk about the physical health effects of extreme weather. How does it also affect stress and mental well-being in ...
A scientist’s opinion: interview with Prof. Juan Picos about solutions against wildfires
How can we make the European landscape more resilient to wildfires? Experts are testing out different prevention strategies on different areas through predictive models and computer simulations. One of them is Prof. Juan Picos from the University of Vigo (Spain), co-coordinator of the cross-border EU-funded FIREPOCTEP+ project. He will speak at the workshop ‘Nature-based solutions ...
A scientist’s opinion: interview with Dr Ragni Fjellgaard Mikalsen about solutions against wildfires
From innovative seed balls to virtual reality training for firefighters - the large-scale EU Green Deal TREEADS project she was leading with 47-48 partners from 13 to 14 European countries and Taiwan, resulted in 26 different solutions and technologies for integrated fire management and adaptive forest restoration: Dr Ragni Fjellgaard Mikalsen is Senior Research Scientist ...
Solutions to make Europe more resilient to raging wildfires
Fuelled by climate change and a shift in land-use practices, wildfires are increasing in number and intensity across Europe. In fact, last year was the worst year for wildfires in Europe in 20 years, according to an EUMETSAT report. Its authors contribute the intensity of the fires to factors like increasingly dry vegetation, low soil ...
A scientist’s opinion: interview with Théo Wittersheim from the Shift Project on their report about Europe’s energy exposure
Could you elaborate on the technical foundations of your methodology, particularly what makes it novel compared to existing approaches, and which data sources were used to validate your approach? Théo Wittersheim: Our methodology is based on two core principles: analysing dependencies from the perspective of physical flows (for instance, barrels of oil, tonnes of steel, ...
A scientist’s opinion: interview with Ugnė Keliauskaitė from Bruegel on Europe’s energy dependency
The views expressed here are from Ugnė Keliauskaitė and do not necessarily reflect those of the think tank Bruegel. Do your findings suggest that Europe is shifting from fossil fuel dependency towards new forms of dependency, for example on critical materials or external clean energy supply chains? Ugnė Keliauskaitė: China dominates global production of the ...
A scientist’s opinion: interview with Dr Samanta Bačić on nature-based solutions for climate adaptation
Dr Samanta Bačić is a Senior Assistant in the Faculty of Civil Engineering, Architecture and Geodesy at the University of Split, Croatia. Her primary area of expertise is in geoinformatics with a focus on Geographic Information System (GIS) models tailored for urban environmental management in the context of climate change and green transition goals. She ...