SEMEDFIRE – Twinning aims to upgrade the knowledge and experience of a leading Cypriot research center, so that CERIDES becomes a “beacon” of excellence in fire research in Cyprus and the South-East Mediterranean region.
A strategic project of particular importance for Cyprus was inaugurated on Tuesday at the CERIDES Center of Excellence of the European University of Cyprus in Nicosia, in the presence of the Environment Commissioner of the Republic of Cyprus Klelia Vassiliou.
SEMEDFIRE (South Eastern Mediterranean Excellence Development In Fire Research) is a project under Horizon Europe, the ninth consecutive framework program of the European Union for research and innovation 2021-2027 with a budget of 95.5 billions of euros. The three-year SEMEDFIRE-Twining, the first twinning program awarded to the European University of Cyprus, further strengthening its reputation as a leading research academic institution in the south-eastern Mediterranean region and beyond, brings together world-renowned fire experts.
What stands out especially in relation to the Cypriot involvement is that SEMEDFIRE-Twining aims to upgrade the knowledge and experience of a leading Cypriot research center, so that CERIDES becomes a “beacon” of excellence in fire research in Cyprus and in the southeastern Mediterranean region.
Speaking at the opening session of the program, the Commissioner for the Environment Klelia Vassiliou said that the Republic of Cyprus, following the initiative of the President of the Republic Nikos Anastassiades, undertook the activation of the policies of the countries of Europe and the Middle East through a scientific approach aimed at dealing with of the danger lurking in the region and the magnitude of which places it in the so-called “red zone”, i.e. the zone of the countries most at risk worldwide. This is precisely why, the commissioner emphasized, the effort of CERIDES to become a Euro-Mediterranean knowledge centre for research and innovation in the management of natural disasters through an integrated and strategically analyzed approach is of primary importance. At the same time, he added, the CERIDES effort is building a bridge in the south-eastern Mediterranean in matters of civil protection.
For his part, the director of CERIDES and project coordinator Dr. George Boustras mentioned that the south-eastern Mediterranean is a target area for CERIDES Excellence in Innovation and Technology of the European University of Cyprus. We have been active, he explained, actively in the south-eastern Mediterranean for years, coordinating or participating in a number of European funding actions aimed at preventing or managing disasters with an emphasis on fires. Through the SEMEDFIRE project, Professor Boustras added, we look forward to creating the conditions that will allow us to offer at national and regional level a research infrastructure that will pioneer and evolve – with the help of our partners in the network – to a point report on the issues of fire prevention and management.
In order to achieve the objectives of SEMEDFIRE, CERIDES will work closely with Hazelab of Imperial College London, the Department of Pyrogeography of Wageningen University & Research of the Netherlands, the Civil Protection of the French Republic, the Pau Costa Foundation of Spain and the Metropolitan Municipality of Nîmes in France. The opening session of the project was welcomed via video conference by leading academics and public bodies, from the European Commission, Cyprus, Greece, France, Spain, the Netherlands, Lebanon and Israel.
*The article above is the English translation of the relevant article published by gr.euronews.com – Link
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