Bridging Science and Crisis Management: the use case of Brussels conurbation

The Brussels conurbation lies at the heart of Europe, hosting not only the European institutions and NATO headquarters but also functioning as a major communication hub and a typical urban environment with all its inherent challenges. Furthermore, Brussels is not immune to climate-related hazards, particularly flooding, droughts, and heatwaves.

Safe.brussels is the public agency of the Brussels-Capital Region responsible for coordinating policies in safety, security, and crisis management, acting as the lead authority for emergency planning and crisis response. Our work follows what we call the risk cycle, which begins with risk identification, prevention and preparedness, continues through crisis management when an event occurs, and concludes with recovery and lessons learned. Recent events, such as the floods in Valencia (Spain), have highlighted the critical importance of risk identification and emergency preparedness.
In the Brussels regional risk analysis, one of the four major categories concerns natural hazards and extreme weather conditions. Climate change is expected to exacerbate these risks significantly.

As an organization directly engaged in the development and implementation of safety and crisis management plans, we recognize the strategic importance of scientific knowledge in strengthening operational readiness and response capabilities.

Building resilience requires mutual understanding between scientists, policymakers, and practitioners like us, who operate at the interface of these two worlds. In this presentation, we will share our crisis preparedness methodology, key challenges, and needs to make the Brussels-Capital Region more resilient to climate risks, using flood risk as the primary lens for discussion. We will use this opportunity to share how we interact with data providers, policy makers and our vision to have a more efficient knowledge exchange in times of crisis !