Strengthen European emergency response / 2025

Fraunhofer INT coordinates new Horizon Europe project DARE to strengthen European emergency response

Fraunhofer INT is coordinating the new Horizon Europe project DARE (Deployment And Engagement of Resources and Citizens for European Emergency Response), which officially started on 1 October 2025. DARE is a new Horizon Europe Research and Innovation Action funded under the “Civil Security for Society” programme. The project has a total budget of €3.6 million and will run until September 2028.

Europe is facing increasingly frequent and severe disasters – from wildfires and floods to cross-border emergencies – where rapid and coordinated action saves lives. To address these challenges, DARE brings together 15 partners from 10 European countries, including research institutions, emergency services, NGOs, public authorities, and technology organisations. United by a common goal, the consortium aims to enhance Europe’s collective and effective response to disasters. “DARE is about making Europe’s emergency response stronger, faster, and more unified. By creating common ground for technology, procedures, and people, we are building a system that saves lives across borders”, explains project coordinator Dr. Claudia Berchtold from Fraunhofer INT.

DARE will bridge key gaps in disaster response by:

  • Harmonising operational procedures across Member States to enable smooth cross-country deployments.
  • Ensuring interoperability of command structures for faster and more coordinated decision-making.
  • Integrating digital tools through an open-source dashboard combining real-time hazard monitoring, AI-supported multilingual communication, and situational awareness tools.
  • Engaging citizens and volunteers in emergency response, with mechanisms for mobilisation and feedback loops between authorities and communities.

At the heart of the project is the ambition to create a resilient, scalable, and citizen-centred European emergency response framework. Through training, workshops, and field exercises, DARE will test and validate harmonised procedures that can be rapidly adopted across Europe.

This project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon Europe research and innovation programme under Grant Agreement No. 101225656.

Media Contact:
Maria Carolan
EU Project Manager | Carr Communications Ltd
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Project Coordinator Contact:
Dr. Claudia Berchtold
Senior Researcher | Project Manager
Coordinator Sustainable Systems Transformation & Risk Management
Fraunhofer Institute for Technological Trend Analysis INT
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