Central European Alliance for Increasing Climate Change Resilience to Combined Consequences of Drought, Heatwave, and Fire Weather through Regionally-Tuned Forecasting

Programme 2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B Central Europe

Date of latest update: 2025-10-08

Description

Description (EN):

The frequency, duration, and severity of drought, heatwaves, and fire weather (DHF) in the Central European (CE) region is expected to increase as a result of ongoing climate change. Water scarcity and drought represent challenges that are often incorporated in legal frameworks of CE countries especially after recent series of droughts. However, heatwaves and fire weather have not yet been properly addressed in legislation documents and together with drought have often not been implemented into strategies and efforts aiming to increase resilience. The direct threat posed by DHF events to human wellbeing and environment urgently requires attention. That has been prevented partially due to an absence of tools that monitor, predict, and spread awareness of DHF on an operational basis. This leads to an unpreparedness to DHF events on regional, national, and cross-border levels. The Clim4Cast project will create a STEP-CHANGE (change much bigger than usual) as the project partners will jointly develop and establish a multi-temporal DHF forecast which will be integrated into existing national drought monitoring platforms of the 7 participating countries. The project will also estimate the effect of climate change on the occurrence and characteristics of DHF events. The results will be a base for a strategy to increase climate change and DHF awareness. A special action plan that sets up proper response mechanisms will be developed was well. The uniqueness of Clim4Cast lies firstly in sharing and jointly utilising existing partner knowledge of (1) extreme weather and climate events, (2) diverse strategies of communication, and (3) established networks of stakeholders and users of the newly-developed tool. Secondly, the project will develop and implement multi-temporal forecast that is currently missing in existing tools. The project output will serve as an early warning system that can be utilised by diverse stakeholders and implemented into national legislative frameworks.

Actual Achievements (EN):

During the first year of the project the Clim4Cast consortium of project partners (PPs) has followed the timeline of activities established in the Application form and to our best knowledge complied with all requirements and guidelines of the Joint Secretariat (JS). The LP regularly communicates with the JS programme officer about upcoming project controls and other project-related matters. An active involvement of all project partners during the first year has played an important role in advancing the project objectives. There were major achievements (described in detail in Work plan progress section) within all working packages (WP) of the project. In WP1 the PPs collected national data on drought, heatwave, and fire (DHF) impacts from national newspapers and created a database that summarizes the occurrence, duration, location (and other parameters) of the event impacts. This database served as a project Milestone 1 which was delivered in time and approved by the programme officer. In WP2 the major outcomes were: i) a database of DHF monitoring and forecasting services that work on global to regional and national scales including best practices in DHF monitoring and forecasting of PPs (Milestone 2 – delivered on time and approved by the programme officer); ii) an operational workflow for calculating and delivering spatial layers (i.e. maps) of current and forecasted DHF conditions. In WP3 the major achievement was a creation of a document compiling National profile reports of all involved project countries and their national legal and operational procedures regarding DHF events. All aforementioned project results would not be possible to create without the international collaboration of the Clim4Cast consortium which is supported by the Interreg CE funding. The PPs disseminated the project results to various target groups through social media posts, project website content, media interviews, press releases, attendance of international conferences, and presentation at various stakeholder meetings (more detail in the following section). Since its launch, the Clim4Cast project has made significant progress in supporting Central European countries in preparing for droughts, heatwaves, and wildfires (DHF). Coordinated by CzechGlobe, the project has delivered impactful results through strong collaboration among eight partner institutions. A central achievement has been the development and continuous improvement of the DHF impacts database, covering 2000–2023. Led by Masaryk University, the database now includes harmonized national data, severity indices, and new methods for detecting cross-border and compound DHF events. A new clustering technique allowed advanced spatial-temporal analysis of extreme events across borders. CzechGlobe led the development of a regional early warning and forecasting platform, now available at clim4cast.czechglobe.cz, along with a digital toolbox. These tools were tested and validated through multi-partner collaboration, including field feedback from national weather services and forestry agencies. Two peer-reviewed publications were produced from this validation effort. In addition, partners developed methodologies to assess the link between recent DHF events and climate change. This attribution work supports national-level understanding of long-term climate impacts. Partners have also developed action plans for improving DHF services. The consortium also finalized a Proactive Response Concept outlining 30 measures across the disaster risk cycle. This document, developed under ARSO's leadership with DHMZ and SHMI, forms the foundation for national DHF action plans currently in preparation. National consultations in Czechia, Slovakia, and Germany have gathered input from diverse stakeholders. Outreach has been a strong focus, with broad dissemination via social media and project website, scientific presentations, and national events. The Clim4Cast website has been actively maintained with updates and news from all partners. The cooperation across countries and partner institutions has created a strong foundation for shared tools, better preparedness, and harmonized responses to increasing climate-related hazards in Central Europe.

Project outputs:
Network of partners and associated partners jointly evaluating DHF events with cross border effect and jointly developing lesson learned from those events(EN)
A transnatoinal strategy on improved climate change awareness in the area of DHF events and their compound effects for the Clim4Cast region(EN)
Pilot action testing and evaluating the proposed drought monitoring and forecasting tools(EN)
Pilot action testing and evaluating the proposed heat wave monitoring and forecasting tools(EN)
Pilot action testing and evaluating the proposed wildfire risk monitoring and forecasting tools(EN)
Solution for integrated multi-temporal forecasting of drought in Central European countries(EN)
Solution for integrated multi-temporal forecasting of heat wave in Central European countries(EN)
Solution for integrated multi-temporal forecasting of wildfire in Central European countries(EN)
Cross-border collaboration on development and implementation of regional multi-temporal DHF monitoring and forecasting mapping tool into established national platforms(EN)
Communication and engagement national action plans on proactive DHF response(EN)
Website: https://www.interreg-central.eu/projects/clim4cast/

Thematic information

Managing natural and man-made threats, risk management Evaluation systems and results

Priority: (VI-B_CE_2) Cooperating for a greener central Europe

Priority specific objective: RSO2.4. Promoting climate change adaptation and disaster risk prevention and resilience, taking into account eco-system based approaches

Priority policy objective (Interreg specific objective): PO2 A greener, low-carbon transitioning towards a net zero carbon economy and resilient Europe by promoting clean and fair energy transition, green and blue investment, the circular economy, climate change mitigation and adaptation, risk prevention and management, and sustainable urban mobility

Type of intervention: 059 Adaptation to climate change measures and prevention and management of climate related risks: fires (including awareness raising, civil protection and disaster management systems, infrastructures and ecosystem based approaches)

Partners (8)

Lead Partner: Ústav výzkumu globální změny AV ČR, v. v. i.

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 921149249

Partner’s ID if not PIC: CZ86652079

Department: Domain of Climate Analysis and Modelling

Address: Bělidla, 60300 Brno, Czech Republic

Department address: Bělidla, 60300 Brno, Czech Republic

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://www.czechglobe.cz

Total budget: EUR 373 010.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 298 408.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 74 602.00

Slovenský hydrometeorologický ústav

Name: Slovenský hydrometeorologický ústav

Department: Division Meteorological Service/Dpt. of Climatological Service

Partner’s ID if not PIC: SK2020749852

Address: Jeséniova, 83315 Bratislava, Slovakia

Department address: Jeséniova, 83315 Bratislava, Slovakia

Legal status: public

Organisation type: National public authority

Website: http://www.shmu.sk

Total budget: EUR 271 280.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 217 024.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 54 256.00

Državni hidrometeorloški zavod

Name: Državni hidrometeorloški zavod

Department: Meteorological Research and Development Division

Partner’s ID if not PIC: HR74660437164

Address: Ravnice, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Department address: Ravnice, 10000 Zagreb, Croatia

Legal status: public

Organisation type: National public authority

Website: http://www.meteo.hr

Total budget: EUR 153 179.20

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 122 543.36

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 30 635.84

Agencija Republike Slovenije za okolje

Name: Agencija Republike Slovenije za okolje

Department: Meteorology and hydrology office

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 920448812

Partner’s ID if not PIC: SI18945082

Address: Vojkova cesta, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Department address: Vojkova cesta, 1000 Ljubljana, Slovenia

Legal status: public

Organisation type: National public authority

Website: https://www.arso.gov.si

Total budget: EUR 198 699.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 158 959.20

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 39 739.80

Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung (ZALF) e. V.

Name: Leibniz-Zentrum für Agrarlandschaftsforschung (ZALF) e. V.

Department: Research Platform "Data Analysis & Simulation"

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999465885

Partner’s ID if not PIC: DE811417184

Address: Eberswalder Str., 15374 Muencheberg, Germany

Department address: Eberswalder Str., 15374 Muencheberg, Germany

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://www.zalf.de/en/Pages/ZALF.aspx

Total budget: EUR 251 102.60

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 200 882.08

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 50 220.52

Instytut Uprawy, Nawżenia i Gleboznawstwa - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy

Name: Instytut Uprawy, Nawżenia i Gleboznawstwa - Państwowy Instytut Badawczy

Department: Department of Bioeconomy and Systems Analysis

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 998139604

Partner’s ID if not PIC: PL7160004281

Address: Czartoryskich, 24-100 Puławy, Poland

Department address: Czartoryskich, 24-100 Puławy, Poland

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: http://www.iung.pl

Total budget: EUR 169 550.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 135 640.00

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 33 910.00

Technische Universitaet Wien

Name: Technische Universitaet Wien

Department: Department of Geodesy and Geoinformation

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999979888

Partner’s ID if not PIC: ATU37675002

Address: Karlsplatz, 1040 Vienna, Austria

Department address: Wiedner Hauptstrasse, 1040 Vienna, Austria

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: http://www.tuwien.at

Total budget: EUR 294 379.20

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 235 503.36

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 58 875.84

Masarykova univerzita

Name: Masarykova univerzita

Department: Department of Geography, Faculty of Science

PIC (Participant Identification Code): 999880657

Partner’s ID if not PIC: CZ00216224

Address: Zerotinovo namesti, 60177 Brno, Czech Republic

Department address: Kotlarska, 61137 Brno, Czech Republic

Legal status: public

Organisation type: Higher education and research organisations

Website: https://www.muni.cz/en

Total budget: EUR 202 754.00

Partner’s programme co-financing: EUR 162 203.20

Partner’s programme co-financing rate: 80.00%

Partner contribution: EUR 40 550.80

Partners map

Partners and Projects info

Slovak hydrometeorological institute

Central European Alliance for Increasing Climate Change Resilience to Combined Consequences of Drought, Heatwave, and Fire Weather through Regionally-Tuned Forecasting

Partners and Projects info

Croatian Meteorological and Hydrological Service

Central European Alliance for Increasing Climate Change Resilience to Combined Consequences of Drought, Heatwave, and Fire Weather through Regionally-Tuned Forecasting

Partners and Projects info

Agencija RS za okolje

Central European Alliance for Increasing Climate Change Resilience to Combined Consequences of Drought, Heatwave, and Fire Weather through Regionally-Tuned Forecasting

Partners and Projects info

Leibniz Centre for Agricultural Landscape Research (ZALF)

Central European Alliance for Increasing Climate Change Resilience to Combined Consequences of Drought, Heatwave, and Fire Weather through Regionally-Tuned Forecasting

Partners and Projects info

Institute of Soil Science and Plant Cultivation - State Research Institute

Central European Alliance for Increasing Climate Change Resilience to Combined Consequences of Drought, Heatwave, and Fire Weather through Regionally-Tuned Forecasting

Partners and Projects info

TU Wien

Central European Alliance for Increasing Climate Change Resilience to Combined Consequences of Drought, Heatwave, and Fire Weather through Regionally-Tuned Forecasting

Partners and Projects info

Masaryk University

Central European Alliance for Increasing Climate Change Resilience to Combined Consequences of Drought, Heatwave, and Fire Weather through Regionally-Tuned Forecasting

Partners and Projects info

Global Change Research Institute of the Czech Academy of Sciences

Central European Alliance for Increasing Climate Change Resilience to Combined Consequences of Drought, Heatwave, and Fire Weather through Regionally-Tuned Forecasting

Lead partner

Project partner

Summary

Project name (EN): Central European Alliance for Increasing Climate Change Resilience to Combined Consequences of Drought, Heatwave, and Fire Weather through Regionally-Tuned Forecasting

Project acronym: Clim4Cast

Project ID: CE0100059

Project start date: 2023-03-01

Project end date: 2026-02-28

Project status: ongoing

Relevant linked projects:

C3Surf2 (funded by EU Copernicus Services) (EN) | The C3Surf2 project is developing general access to high-resolution gridded datasets over Europe based on in situ observations. CzechGlobe as one of the partners of this initiative will have prime access to all datasets created prior to their release. It is envisaged that these state-of-the-art databases developed by C3Surf2 will be utilised by Clim4Cast in analysis of the climate change signal (WP1) but also in development and testing the DHF forecasting skills (WP2). The Clim4Cast will in turn provide the C3Surf2 with feedback on the gridded dataset performance and their acceptance by the Clim4Cast target audience. (EN), EDORA (EU JRC) (EN) | The project EDORA led by the University of Freiburg is focused on collecting and updating drought impact databases across Central Europe to serve as calibration material for the JRC. This service will become active during 2022 and 2023. The key synergy for the Clim4Casst will be the ability to utilise the data collected during EDORA through collaboration with JRC and combining these datasets with those collected through the Clim4Cast WP1 project. Given the number of PPs and APs in the Clim4Cast project that is greater than in case of EDORA it is evident that both projects would benefit from the synergies with final goal being that both Clim4Cast and EDORA would use complementary datasets albeit for different purposes.
(EN), EFFIS (EU JRC) (EN) | European Forest Fire Information System (EFFIS) is a tool developed by the Joint Research Centre in Ispra for the European Commision (EC) to provide timely fire risk information to the EC. However, this tool is primarily used on the EU level. Therefore, the level of regional detail is much lower compared to national monitoring systems. The Clim4Cast will utilise the EFFIS database in order to develop WP1-3 outputs. EFFIS will be able to capitalise on the forecasts produced by the project as it doesn’t currently provide such data especially for extended and seasonal forecast.
(EN), SHELTER - funded by EU´s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme (EN) | The SHELTER project aims at developing a framework that will increase resilience, reduce vulnerability, and promote better protection for selected European areas and their cultural heritage endangered by climate change. MUNI developed a concept of the new multi-hazard early warning system which addressed disadvantages of current threat specific early warning systems. The project results will contribute to an action in WP3 - to summarise best practises in early warning and building public awareness. (EN), Copernicus Global Land, EUMETSAT H SAF, C3S (EN) | These projects developed several operational surface and root-zone soil moisture products based on microwave remote sensing data. Since the Clim4Cast deals with agriculture drought these datasets will be exploited within Clim4cast. (EN), ROSSIHNI - Remote Sensing and Social Interest for Humanitarian Insights (submitted - Austrian Research Promotion Agency FFG, planned: 2022-2023) (EN) | In case of a successful application, the TUW-led ROSSIHNI project will be the first research-driven attempt to link a new drought index product based on radar backscatter observations to a suite of algorithms that predict drought impacts and measure social awareness from news and social media coverage. Within ROSSIHNI, all analyses will be conducted for East Africa. Experience gained within ROSSIHNI related to the use of ASCAT and Sentinel-1 for drought monitoring will directly benefit Clim4cast, and vice versa. (EN), CONFIRM (EN) | A novel, high-resolution and satellite-supported integrated forest fire danger system (IFDS) for Austria and neighbouring regions was developed. It is based on satellite retrievals (from Sentinel 1 and 2 and LiDAR) for soil moisture and vegetation data and the application of machine-learning methods to develop daily reanalyses and forecasts of forest fire ignition and spread risks according to the requirements of meteorological agencies, fire fighters, foresters and infrastructure providers. Clim4Cast will directly benefit from the tool as an input for WP2 A 2.1 whereas CONFIRM will profit from an independent evaluation of its tool. (EN), URANOS - Data and knowledge support for decision-making systems and strategic planning for adaptation of agricultural land to climate change and minimization of agricultural land degradation
(2020-2023)
Operational Programme Research and Innovation (OPVaI)- Operational Program Integrated Infrastructure (OPII) - the Research Agency (EN) | The aim of the project is to create a data and knowledge base to support decision-making and strategic planning for adaptation on climate change and minimising the degradation of agricultural land in Slovakia. The project has 3 main research topics: i) development of new approaches and databases for early assessment, monitoring and forecasting of droughts, ii) climate change prediction and the assessment of climate change impacts on agricultural land, iii) the assessment of soil degradation rates and proposals for optimal land use. The data and knowledge base built in URANOS will be used in drought monitoring in Slovakia and will be available for the Clim4Cast purposes. The improved drought monitoring will be later expanded by the results of Clim4Cast. (EN)

Total budget/expenditure: EUR 1 913 954.00

Total EU funding (amount): EUR 1 531 163.20

Total EU funding (co-financing rate): 80.00%

Co-financing sources:

ERDF: Amount, EUR 1 531 163.20. Co-financing rate, 80.00%.

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

(bullets are inserted automatically and may be incorrectly placed)

Deliverables:

Database of DHF events
Improved database of DHF impacts associated with the occurrence and severity of DHF events
Report on attribution of compound events to climate change
Lessons learned from the past DHF events (strategy document)
DHF communication toolkit
Catalogue of best practises in DHF monitoring - analysis report
Action plan for improvement of DHF services
Software code link and training documentation on its use for multi-temporal seasonal forecasts
Analysis report of the drought forecast reliability and lead time
Analysis report of the heat wave forecast reliability and lead time
Analysis report of the wildfire forecast reliability and lead time
Final analysis report of the forecast reliability and lead time across the region (7 PP countries)
A set of nationally-specific video tutorials
An operational regional mapping tool for visualization of DHF monitoring and foracast for CE
National profiles report
Report on transnational scheme
Proposed proactive response concept
Proposed national DHF action plans

Contribution to wider strategies and policies:

EUStrategyBalticSeaRegion Clim4Cast will benefit in particular the EUSBSR objective of increased prosperity through climate change adaptation, risk prevention and management. This is achieved through bringing experience, know-how, and tools of DHF forecasting into the Baltic Sea Region (BSR) from this CE consortium. In particular, the presented pilots will ingest knowledge from regions where extreme event records are more available while being recent albeit intensifying phenomena in the BSR.
EuropeanGreenDeal Clim4Cast directly contributes to one of the Green Deal aims i.e. to protect, conserve and enhance the EU's natural capital, and protect the health and well-being of citizens from environment-related risks through monitoring and early warning in case of DHF events. It also provides support to the goal 2.1.1. Increasing the EU’s climate ambition for 2030 and 2050 by supporting the “efforts on climate proofing, resilience building, prevention and preparedness” but will also contribute to 2.1.6. (reducing the extent and frequency of wildfires and forest fires).
TerritorialAgenda2030 The project directly targets priority action on climate in the area of DHF preparedness as required by the TA2030 and does that for the entire territory of 6 countries and one region including cross border issues. The project also benefits the “healthy environment” priority by bringing new crisis management tools to increase places’ safety and resilience through introduction of DHF forecasts on various temporal scales.
EUStrategyDanubeRegion The Clim4Cast project will contribute to the EUSDR Priority Area 5 (Environmental risks). Following the EUSDR action plan, PA5 foresees 5 actions. Action 1 provides support for development and execution of risk management plans for different hazards, including drought and forest fires and its target is to realise at least 5 supporting projects in period 2021-2027. Clim4Cast can be considered as one of them since it covers all supporting PA5 actions, including assessment of climate change impacts.
EUStrategyAdriaticIonianRegion The Clim4Cast project will contribute to the EUSAIR 3rd pillar Environmental quality. Since expected climate change will impact ecosystems also (or particularly) in the Mediterranean region, one of the actions within this pillar is development of joint management plans for cross-border habitats and ecosystems in order to make them more resilient. Improved knowledge of DHF provided by the Clim4Cast project can help in preparation of this output. In addition, since tourism is highly affected by more frequent extreme heatwaves, the project will also contribute to the EUSAIR 4rd pillar Sustainable tourism in achieving its objectives both in offering new services and improving the sustainable and responsible tourism management.
EUStrategyAlpineRegion DHF events are increasingly impacting Europe’s alpine region. Some strategies to handle these risks exist on a national scale, but these are mostly still in their infancy and a common solution on a macro-regional scale is still missing. Within Clim4Cast, new approaches will be tested to forecast such events and deal with them consistently across sectors to ensure the environmental and economic attractiveness and resilience of this region in the future. This is of particular interest as the consequences of DHF are cross-sectorial, hence, so should be their solutions.

Programme Common Output Indicator:

RCO 116 - Jointly developed solutions, Measurement unit:
RCO 084 - Pilot actions developed jointly and implemented in projects, Measurement unit:
RCO 087 - Organisations cooperating across borders, Measurement unit:
RCO 083 - Strategies and action plans jointly developed, Measurement unit:

Delivered output indicator(s):

(RCO87) Organisations cooperating across borders: 34.0

Programme Common Result Indicator:

RCR 084 - Organisations cooperating across borders after project completion, Measurement unit:
RCR 104 - Solutions taken up or up-scaled by organisations, Measurement unit:
RCR 079 - Joint strategies and action plans taken up by organisations, Measurement unit:

Project part of European Union Macro-Regional or Sea Basin Strategy: EUSBSR

EUSBSR Priority (Policy) area / Horizontal action:

EUSBSR Degree of compliance:

Project part of European Union Macro-Regional or Sea Basin Strategy: EUSALP

EUSALP Priority (Policy) area / Horizontal action:

EUSALP Degree of compliance:

Project part of European Union Macro-Regional or Sea Basin Strategy: EUSDR

Project part of European Union Macro-Regional or Sea Basin Strategy: EUSAIR

EUSAIR Priority (Policy) area / Horizontal action:

EUSAIR Degree of compliance:

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Financing programme

2021 - 2027 Interreg VI-B Central Europe

Last month that data in keep.eu was retrieved from the Programme's website or received from the Programme

2025-10-08

No. of projects in keep.eu / Total no. of projects (% of projects in keep.eu)

100 / 100 (100%)

No. of project partnerships in keep.eu / Total no. of project partnerships (% of project partnerships in keep.eu)

1 013 / 1 011 (100.2%)

Notes on the data

Languages

Contact Form

Central European Alliance for Increasing Climate Change Resilience to Combined Consequences of Drought, Heatwave, and Fire Weather through Regionally-Tuned Forecasting

Description

Thematic information

Partners (8)

Partners map

Summary

Investments, deliverables, policy contributions

Information regarding the data in keep.eu on the programme financing this project

Disclaimer