On 24 and 25 February 2025, the opening meeting of the European project NEAM-COMMITMENT (ΝEAM Collaboration fOr iMproved tsunaMi rIsk miTigation and manageMENT), funded by the European Commission (DG-ECHO 2024) and led by the National Observatory of Athens (NOA), was held in Athens. The two-year initiative aims to strengthen tsunami risk management in the NEAM area (North-East Atlantic, Mediterranean and related seas).
Thirteen institutions from Greece, Spain, Cyprus and Italy are participating in the project.
For Italy, the institutions involved are:
INGV - Tsunami Warning Centre (CAT-INGV)
Department of Civil Protection (DPC)
Institute for Environmental Protection and Research (ISPRA)
Global Earthquake Model Foundation of Pavia (GEM)
The meeting opened with speeches by coordinator Dr. Marinos Charalampakis (NOA) and project officer Juan Francisco Galvan Montero (DG-ECHO), who emphasised the importance of the project in the context of the IOC-UNESCO Tsunami Ready Recognition and Ocean Decade initiatives and the EU Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM).
During the event, experts from civil protection, seismology, volcanology, tsunami and risk management discussed prevention strategies and cooperation. A special focus was devoted to tsunami evacuation planning in the two pilot sites: one in Greece and the other in Italy, on the island of Stromboli, selected for its multi-hazard context.
The project will end on 31 January 2027, helping to strengthen tsunami risk prevention, preparedness and warning systems.
🔎 For more information visit the NEAM-COMMITMENT project webpage.