EUMAplus: Digitalization of educational materials for Disaster Management and Civil Protection experts and professionals

Within the context of global change, disasters are increasing in frequency and magnitude with rising complexity, while risk landscapes are continuously reshaped by various types of hazards, societal developments and pathways. Climate change, urbanization, and geopolitical dynamics are only some factors contributing to transboundary risks that challenge conventional Disaster Risk Management (DRM) and Civil Protection (CP) approaches. These challenges require well-trained DRM and CP professionals with the capacity to operate not only across sectors but also beyond national borders to deal with, reduce or ultimately avoid potential impacts and losses.

Therefore, within the EUMA project (Creating a EUropean Higher Education Network for MAster’s Programmes in Disaster Risk Management), funded under the Union Civil Protection Mechanism / Knowledge for Action in Prevention and Preparedness, the postgraduate Master’s programme “International Disaster Management and Civil Protection” has been developed to strengthen professional capacities in disaster response and recovery as well as prevention and preparedness. In times of digitalization, new options and pathways have emerged to expand the access to DRM and CP education, including Massive Open Online Courses (MOOCs) and podcasts.

Building on these developments, the follow-up project EUMAplus aims to develop open-access educational materials for professionals and experts within Disaster Risk Management and Civil Protection, ensuring long-term accessibility to such open-access resources. This significantly contributes to advancing DRM and CP, thereby increasing resilience to disasters.  This contribution presents selected digital teaching formats, planned to be created within EUMAplus and discusses how these resources will be created and adapted to the needs of respective stakeholders. EUMAplus directly supports the Preparedness Union Strategy, particularly Key Action 15, which emphasizes integrating preparedness into education and training systems.