Flood hazard maps in the European context

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In general, in order to prepare comparable Flood Risk Management Plans for the next implementation cycles, a huge amount of work is necessary to reduce these differences and improve the flood risk management, in particular in the case of transboundary watersheds. In fact, harmonize and share of these plans could result in an improvement of the work performed by Water Authorities, saving resources and applying best practices and solutions in more cases. A possible way to do that could be the increase of international projects and cooperation, with the aim to have a larger and more structured database. Indeed, it is desirable that, after the next cycle, there will be more comparability and harmonization of flood risk management across the European countries, adopting different approaches such as learning by doing and information exchange. One of the final aims of the Floods Directive is to lead to higher flood risk awareness in Europe, with a gradual change from a safety culture to a risk culture. This requires to take preventive actions at reasonable expense, but also to include the willingness to accept worst consequences in the case of extreme flood-related events and to ensure an open and clear communication of flooding risks across countries.

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