In the last week of April, a delegation of representatives of the Sudanese National Council for Civil Defence and of the Sudan Survey Authority visited the Foundations, in an important moment for the exchange of knowledge in the field of civil protection and hydro-meteorological Early Warning.
The technical visit of the delegation of representatives of the Sudanese National Council for Civil Defence and of Sudan Survey Authority has just ended. From 26 to 29 April, 2021, they have been guests of CIMA Research Foundation and Acrotec Foundation.
The visit follows the mission in Khartoum that CIMA Research Foundation carried out, in collaboration with the Italian Agency for Development Cooperation, at the end of March, 2021. The four-day visit has been dedicated to deepen the issues and tools for Early Warning and forecasting of hydro-meteorological risks: our researchers and technicians have presented some of the models used or developed by the Foundations, including the meteorological model WRF and the open-hardware system ACRONET. Particular attention has been devoted to the integrated platform myDEWETRA, whose functionalities and potential applications in the field of civil protection and Early Warning have been illustrated.
Moreover, CIMA Research Foundation has presented some significant cases, in Liguria and more generally in Italy, of projects and activities based on the participatory approach for civil protection planning. In addition, our researchers have illustrated the activities carried out with drones, also used during the Mayo Up project to perform topographic surveys in the area of Mayo Angola camp (on the outskirts of Khartoum), so as to place them in the broader context of the work of the Foundations.
The meeting ended with a visit to the headquarters of the Civil Protection – Liguria Region and to ARPAL Monitoring and Forecasting Centre, with the aim of presenting spaces, roles and mechanisms in place within the civil protection system.
“These four days together were aimed at presenting the Italian model of Early Warning and, more specifically, the approach and activities carried out by CIMA research Foundation and Acrotec Foundation in the field of water-related risk monitoring and forecasting,” explains Alessandro Masoero, researcher of Hydrology and Hydraulics Department. “But the most important aspect, of this as of any other occasion of meeting with different realities, is the exchange of knowledge and experience. It is fundamental not only for the advancement of scientific research but also for enhancing international collaboration. Only by understanding realities and needs of each specific country, in fact, we can achieve shared, effective and sustainable responses”.