FRAMES - Flood Resilient Areas by Multi-Layered Safety
FRAMES stands for Flood Resilient Areas by multi-layEr Safety. Traditionally, structural and static solutions were the preferred management option to defend against flooding. However, it is more and more recognized that protection alone will not be enough to make areas climate-resilient. It is also imperative to decrease the effects of flooding and look at spatial planning and disaster management as well. This so-called Multi-Layered Safety approach is thus based on three layers: 1) protection, the primary dike system; 2) sustainable spatial planning that decreases the loss should a flood occur; and 3) disaster management, the organizational aspects related to a flood event. Together, these three layers can be tailored to local areas in order to minimise flood damage.
Floods have always been and will continue to be part of our daily reality. In fact, floods are amongst the world’s most common and most devastating natural hazards and have affected millions of people in Europe since the beginning of this century. Changes in our climate are increasing the risk of river and coastal flooding because sea levels are rising and rainfall patterns are becoming more extreme. Increasing flood risks call for more innovative approaches to minimize the impacts of such events. Therefore, five countries bordering the North Sea Region, Denmark, Germany, the Netherlands, Belgium and the United Kingdom, are joining forces in the Interreg North Sea Region project FRAMES.
