The Baltic Sea represents a traffic link of paramount importance for all countries surrounding it. At the same time, the Baltic Sea is important for the fisheries industry and represents a unique resource for tourism. The uniqueness and vulnerability of the Baltic Sea is illustrated by its high salinity gradient, its status as an IMO Particularly Sensitive Sea Area (PSSA), and the long water residence time of approx. 30 years. Accidental spills of oil and hazardous and noxious substances (HNS) have the risk of significant impact with negative consequences to the entire Baltic Sea environment and the economy of its surrounding countries.
BRISK II aims therefore to contribute to the implementation of the Union disaster resilience goals through the development, validation of disaster risk management (DRM) tools, and knowledge exchange. BRISK II follows a multi-hazard approach, in line with the guiding principles of the Sendai Framework for disaster risk reduction 2015-2030.
Overall aim of BRISK II is
1) Cooperation: All Baltic Sea countries are participating either as Project Partners or Associated Project Partners (except for the Russian Federation).
2) Enhancing disaster prevention, response and preparedness: The main goal of the project corresponds to two of the Union disaster resilience goals: a) Anticipate (Improve risk assessment, anticipation and management plans) and b) Prepare (Identify effective and cost-efficient methods for developing the common preparedness). This will be achieved by up-dating and validating of the DRM tool, earlier developed by e.g. BRISK and BE-AWARE I projects. Based on the experience and a more streamlined process, the BRISK II will aim at a longer prognosis period than in the BRISK.
3) The multi-hazard approach is followed: The project captures within one analysis the complex and non-stationary system of causal relations leading to damages to environment and society due to ship accidents. The hazards addressed are the ship accidents, the damage on the impacted sea area and the hazards to the coastal areas. An optimised response to this complex multi-hazard system will be developed by interdisciplinary cooperation between technical knowledge institutions (Consultants and research institutions) and operational decision-making agencies (Response authorities).
Project funding
The project is funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO). The total budget is €1,087,397. The project is two years long and will be implemented from January 1, 2025, to December 31, 2026.
Project consortium
The Baltic Marine Environment Protection Commission (HELCOM)
Danish Ministry of Defence
Swedish Coast Guard
Finnish Border Guard
