InDiMaND Project Summary
Project Title: Integrated Disaster Management Network in the Danube Region
(InDiMaND)
Programme: Danube Region Programme 2021–2027, Priority 2.2 – Enhancing Disaster
Risk Management and Resilience
Project Duration: April 2025 – March 2028 (36 months)
Total Budget: EUR 1,915,120 (80% co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund)
Partnership Composition
The project is led by the Budapest Firefighter Association (Budapesti Tűzoltó Szövetség – BTSZ), a Hungarian umbrella organisation representing volunteer-based rescue and response services with a long-standing international engagement in civil protection cooperation. The partnership brings together a diverse and complementary mix of 13 project partners from 10 countries across the Danube Region, supported by 17 Associated Strategic Partners. It includes national and regional authorities responsible for disaster risk management, civil protection and volunteer coordination; academic institutions with expertise in training, research, and innovation in disaster preparedness; volunteer-based and humanitarian organisations with direct operational experience in emergency response; and umbrella bodies and professional networks active in crossborder cooperation. This broad institutional base ensures that both top-down strategic perspectives and bottom-up practical knowledge are represented, enabling the project to address disaster management challenges comprehensively and sustainably across sectors and governance levels.
Strategic Context and Objectives
InDiMaND addresses the increasingly complex and transboundary nature of environmental risks affecting the Danube Region, including floods, wildfires, heatwaves, and droughts. The project contributes directly to the implementation of the EU Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR), particularly under the Environmental Risks Priority Area (PA5) and its Disaster Management Working Group, by advancing the operationalisation of civil protection cooperation at macro-regional level. It is designed to be complementary to the European Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), helping to bridge the critical gap between EU-level international deployment frameworks and national or cross-border operational systems. The project aims to establish a transnational, integrated disaster management network that reinforces regional coordination, enhances interoperability, and promotes sustainable volunteer involvement—particularly among youth—by fostering harmonised procedures, testing joint response models, and equipping both institutional actors and civil society with the capacity to respond to emergencies efficiently and collaboratively, thereby building a scalable and resilient framework across the Danube Region.
Core Activities and Deliverables
The InDiMaND project is structured around three Specific Objectives (SOs), each supporting a set of activities and deliverables designed to improve disaster preparedness, awareness, and response capabilities across the Danube Region.
Under Specific Objective 1 – Joint development of disaster response models, the project begins with a thorough research study on existing good practices and a stakeholder mapping (A.1.1), followed by the co-development of joint disaster preparedness models through transnational workshops and scenario design (A.1.2). These models are then tested through pilot discussion-based exercises (DBX) in five countries (A.1.3), which inform the development and validation of common Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) (A.1.4). The final step involves an action plan to support the adoption of these SOPs by relevant disaster management entities across the region (A.1.5).
SO1 Joint development of disaster response models: focuses on research, development, testing, and standardization of transnational disaster preparedness protocols.
A.1.1 Research study of good practices in disaster prevention
D.1.1.1 to D.1.1.5 — covering lessons learned, stakeholder mapping, risk assessment, good practices, and automation options.
A.1.2 Development of joint disaster preparedness models
D.1.2.1 to D.1.2.12 — transnational workshops and risk scenario development in 5 countries, and lessons learned events.
A.1.3 Implementation of disaster preparedness pilot actions
D.1.3.1 to D.1.3.7 — discussion-based exercises (DBX) in 5 countries and evaluation outcomes.
A.1.4 Development of common standard operational procedures
D.1.4.1 to D.1.4.2 — review of existing SOPs and development of common SOPs.
A.1.5 Elaboration of an Action Plan for SOP Adoption
D.1.5.1 to D.1.5.2 — action plan development and SOP adaptation guidance.
Under Specific Objective 2 – Raising communities’ awareness, the project targets broad engagement of civil society, especially volunteers and youth. It starts with the involvement of stakeholders and volunteers through surveys and national consultations across nine countries (A.2.1), laying the groundwork for a youth-focused volunteer engagement strategy and a comprehensive handbook (A.2.2). These findings are then translated into action through a region-wide awareness-raising campaign, combining digital content, printed materials, and outreach events tailored to national contexts (A.2.3).
SO 2: Raising communities’ awareness: promotes community-level awareness and engagement in disaster response, with special focus on volunteers and youth.
A.2.1 Involvement of stakeholders and volunteers
D.2.1.1 to D.2.1.14 — questionnaires, national reports, and workshops in 9 countries.
A.2.2 Youth involvement in volunteering
D.2.2.1 to D.2.2.4 — interviews, synthesis workshop, handbook, and communitybuilding materials.
A.2.3 Awareness raising campaign
D.2.3.1 to D.2.3.11 — campaign materials, implementation in 9 countries, and ematerials.
Under Specific Objective 3 – Strengthening response capacity, the focus shifts to operational readiness. The project begins by mapping existing national capacities and defining a joint inventory of minimum response requirements (A.3.1). To address training needs, it provides e-learning content development and adaptation, supported by an upgraded knowledge platform and alerting application (A.3.2). A comprehensive training programme follows, including Training of Trainers, local exercises, and smallscale field simulations (A.3.3), all designed to ensure that the SOPs are effectively practiced. Finally, transnational co-creation discussions bring together stakeholders in high-level roundtables to shape shared disaster management visions and policy recommendations (A.3.4).
SO 3: Strengthening response capacity: supports the alignment of operational readiness across the Danube region and reinforces joint standards and trainings.
A.3.1 Joint inventory of minimum requirements
D.3.1.1 to D.3.1.3 — mapping capacities and setting minimum requirements.
A.3.2 Knowledge sharing online
D.3.2.1 to D.3.2.6 — updated and new e-learning content, translations, alerting app, and knowledge platform.
A.3.3 Preparedness activities to reach international standards
D.3.3.1 to D.3.3.18 — e-learnings, training of trainers, joint local trainings, SOPs for exercise organizers, and small-scale field exercises.
A.3.4 Transnational co-creation discussions
D.3.4.1 to D.3.4.7 — roundtables, planning workshops, roadmap updates, and policy recommendations.
These activities lead to tangible Project Outputs including harmonised and jointly tested SOPs; a youth engagement action plan; transnational pilot exercises (discussion-based and field-based); a stakeholder report on volunteer involvement; a renewed knowledgesharing platform; and international roundtable policy recommendations. These outputs are developed through collaborative efforts and tested in real or simulated operational environments, ensuring their relevance, usability, and alignment with regional and EUlevel objectives.
Impact and Expected Results
The InDiMaND project seeks to establish a sustainable and scalable disaster management ecosystem across the Danube Region through the uptake and mainstreaming of newly developed tools and strategies by relevant stakeholders. Its expected results are closely tied to the programme’s result indicators and aim at concrete, measurable improvements in institutional capacities and coordinated disaster response.
Project Results
The InDiMaND project delivers tangible and measurable results that directly improve disaster preparedness and response capacities across the Danube Region. These results include the formal uptake of two jointly developed strategies: a transnationally validated set of Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs) that harmonise disaster response practices, and a Youth Engagement Action Plan that supports sustainable volunteer involvement. Thirty disaster management and humanitarian organizations will strengthen their institutional capacities through coordinated participation in transnational cooperation activities, including international roundtables, simulation exercises, and targeted trainings. These activities ensure that actors across sectors are aligned, trained, and equipped to implement the newly developed protocols in real scenarios. Moreover, the project generates at least one solution—such as the integrated volunteer recruitment and training model or the SOP framework—that is adopted or upscaled by organisations beyond the project partnership, thereby ensuring long-term scalability and broader regional impact. All results are rooted in the project’s inclusive, hands-on implementation approach and are designed for durability and transferability across different institutional and national settings.
Durability and Transferability
The long-term impact of InDiMaND is grounded in four pillars:
- Institutional Durability: Outputs are embedded in the operational routines of disaster management authorities, NGOs, and volunteer organizations. Nationallevel implementation is supported through training, piloting, and active involvement of practitioners and decision-makers throughout the project.
- Financial Sustainability: Outputs such as SOPs and digital platforms will be maintained through integration into institutional budgets and follow-up projects. The partnership also intends to explore new funding streams, including other EU and national programmes, to ensure continuity.
- Policy and Political Sustainability: The project supports macro-regional governance by contributing directly to the Disaster Management Working Group under the EU Strategy for the Danube Region’s Environmental Risks Priority Area (EUSDR PA5). It complements the EU Civil Protection Mechanism by addressing sub-regional and cross-border coordination challenges, offering an intermediate scale of action between EU-wide and purely national responses.
- Transferability and Wider Impact: Through its open-access outputs, knowledge portal, and stakeholder engagement events, the project ensures that methodologies and results are adaptable across Europe. Associated strategic partners, macro-regional networks, and expert exchanges play a key role in promoting the use of InDiMaND’s deliverables in other territories.
InDiMaND contributes meaningfully to shaping a more unified and resilient disaster management culture across the Danube Region, building bridges between institutions, volunteers, and communities.
First conference in Budapest https://ruczrs.org/2025/06/10/predstavnici-republicke-uprave-civilne-zastite-republike-srpske-na-planerskoj-radionici-u-budimpesti-u-okviru/
Second conference in Montenegro https://ruczrs.org/2025/10/23/predstavnici-republicke-uprave-civilne-zastite-na-prvom-okruglom-stolu-projekta-indimand-u-crnoj-gori
Online meeting in Budapest https://www.facebook.com/indimandnetwork/posts/pfbid02Kx5q93KVJy2TEGKbqRZdwxASBZ8p2H4YsWVXSrmUtPd9zc3xWLf6iKCLj9x7a91gl?locale=sr_RS