Natural hazards, such as extreme weather events, are exacerbated by climate change. As a result, emergency responses are becoming more protracted, expensive, frequent, and stretching limited available resources. This is especially apparent in rapidly warming regions. MedEWSa addresses these challenges by providing novel solutions to ensure timely, precise, and actionable impact and finance forecasting, and early warning systems (EWS) that support the rapid deployment of first responders to vulnerable areas. Specifically, MedEWSa will deliver a sophisticated, comprehensive, and innovative pan-European–Mediterranean–African solution comprising a range of complementary services. Building on existing tools MedEWSa will develop a fully integrated impact-based multi-hazard EWS. This call contained five expected outcomes, all of which will be specifically addressed by MedEWSa. Led by WMO, MedEWSa will be an exemplar of the UN Secretary General’s March 2022 call to ensure that everyone on Earth is protected from extreme weather and climate-related hazards by EWS within the next five years. Through eight carefully selected pilot sites (areas in Europe, the southern Mediterranean, and Africa with a history of being impacted by natural hazards and extreme events with cascading effects), four twins will be created: ● Twin #1: Greece (Attica) – Ethiopia (National Parks): wildfires and extreme weather events (droughts, wind) ● Twin #2: Italy (Venice) – Egypt (Alexandria / Nile Delta): coastal floods and storm surges ● Twin #3: Slovakia (Kosice) – Georgia (Tbilisi): floods and landslides ● Twin #4: Spain (Catalonia) – Sweden (countrywide): heatwaves, droughts and wildfires. The twins will bridge areas with different climatic/physiographic conditions, yet subject to similar hazards, and are well positioned to deliver long-term bi-directional knowledge transfer. They will demonstrate the transferability and versatility of the tools developed in MedEWSa.

Extreme wildfire events (EWE) are becoming a major environmental, economic and social threat in Southern Europe and increasingly gaining importance elsewhere in Europe. As the limits of fire suppression-centered strategies become evident, practitioners, researchers and policymakers increasingly recognise the need to develop novel approaches that shift emphasis to the root causes and impacts of EWE, moving towards preventive landscape and community management for greater resilience. FIRE-RES integrates existing research, technology, civil protection, policy and governance spheres related to wildfires to innovate processes, methods and tools to effectively promote the implementation of a more holistic fire management approach and support the transition towards more resilient landscapes and communities to EWE. To achieve this, FIRE-RES will, first, generate new knowledge on sustainable integrated fire management models that help to define what type of possible future scenarios (including climate change and general policies) should be promoted across EU territories. Second, it will identify and demonstrate innovations at the technological, social, health/safety, administrative, ecological and economic levels to define how and across which possible paths the future scenarios may be achieved in the EU. These innovations will be implemented in different regional contexts, and upscaled at the national and EU levels using an open innovation hub, promoting capacity building and partnership brokerage between public and private actors. Third, it will raise societal awareness and engagement on wildfire risk prevention, preparedness and response by leveraging existing national and cross-border networks at supranational levels. FIRE-RES is a transdisciplinary, multi-actor consortium, formed by researchers, wildfire agencies, technological companies, industry and civil society from 13 countries, linking to broader networks in science and disaster reduction management.

Developed by Mitiga Solutions, EarthScan-Energy is a pioneering climate risk intelligence platform tailored for the energy sector. As electricity becomes the backbone of the EU’s net-zero transition, energy infrastructure faces growing exposure to climate extremes. Yet, grid operators and renewable energy developers still lack reliable tools to quantify future climate impacts at the asset level, increasing the risk of poor investment decisions, blackouts, and financial loss. Building on our EarthScan™ platform, we developed EarthScan-Energy (currently TRL6), the first solution to quantify how climate hazards such as extreme wind, heat, and hail affect renewable energy assets. It measures site-level damage, degradation, power loss, and financial exposure using validated, high-resolution models with 92% accuracy. In a global pilot with the world’s leading renewable-only energy company, the platform demonstrated exceptional predictive performance. Unlike existing tools, EarthScan-Energy integrates advanced downscaling, physics-informed models, and sector-specific thresholds to deliver precise climate risk insights and forward-looking financial metrics. It transforms uncertainty into actionable intelligence for planning and investment. EIC support will enable us to reach TRL8, expanding coverage to grid infrastructure. Delivered as a scalable, API-ready SaaS platform, EarthScan-Energy will empower utilities, regulators, and investors across the EU to embed climate resilience into long-term decisions. With €584 billion in clean energy investment planned this decade, we have a unique opportunity to future-proof Europe’s energy systems. We request €2.42 million in grant and blended funding to accelerate deployment.

D4RUNOFF overall goal is to create a novel framework for preventing and managing diffuse pollution from urban water runoff through the data driven design of hybrid nature based solutions (NBS) adapted to the current and future risk scenarios solutions. This innovative approach will support water utilities, urban planners and policy makers in defining urban runoff and storm water management plans to enhance the quality of the water discharged to water bodies, considering the Climate Change. D4RUNOFF will have the following specific objectives (SO): - SO1 Increase the knowledge regarding urban runoff pollution sources and the impacts through the development of novel high-resolution suspect and screening & non target screening NTS methods for Contaminants of Emerging Concern (CECs) detection and identification of the major CECs and relevant pollutantspresent in storm water source and assessing their fate in NBS - SO2 Development of cost effective advanced online sensors for targeted CECs, metals and microplastics for improving the monitoring of the water pollution derived from urban runoff - SO3 Enhancing the implementation of advanced preventive and mitigation strategies to reduce diffuse pollution through the development of and innovative multiple-criteria decision analysis (MCDA) methodology integrated in Geographical Information System (GIS) for hybrid NBS design - SO4 Development of a risk assessment and mapping methodology to identify diffuse pollution hotspots for specific sites & considering climate change effects. - SO5 Development of an AI based platform to facilitate the development of effective urban runoff and storm water management plans based on informed decisions - SO6 Implementation and validation of D4RUNOFF approach in 3 case studies and 5 replication sites - SO7 knowledge transfer and engagement with stakeholders, including civil society

The escalating frequency and severity of extreme weather events, induced by climate change, pose significant threats to global societies, economies, and ecosystems. Europe, and more specifically the Mediterranean area, has witnessed a surge in natural disasters resulting in substantial human casualties and economic losses. Despite advancements in disaster risk management, inadequate investment in early warning and detection systems have led to prolonged, costly, and frequent emergency responses, straining resources. UNICORN focuses on the development of Copernicus emergency applications, using Earth Observation technologies and data to address the increasing frequency and intensity of extreme events (fires, floods) and geohazards (volcanoes) and their impact on society, the economy and the environment. UNICORN develops tools and applications for early warning, forecasting, and hazard monitoring that enable a resilient society, better-informed emergency services, and effective short-term recovery. It proposes innovative solutions for local authorities, policy makers, citizens, and industries which will increase their preparedness for extreme events and geohazards. UNICORN's approach involves creating state-of-the-art, scalable and transferable services tailored to user needs, pushing technological boundaries for precise, timely, and actionable results from data and knowledge. UNICORN is based on four use cases from different European regions, hazards, target stakeholders, and technologies, through an end user validation method to build a resilient European landscape. UNICORN aims to enhance resilience and inclusivity by improving forecasting for natural hazards and boosting emergency management at various levels. Leveraging Copernicus Emergency services, it empowers local authorities, citizens, industries, and services to mitigate climate change and geohazard impacts for increased competitiveness and sustainability.