UN names Resilience Hubs in Portugal and Italy
Matosinhos and the Province of Potenza have been recognised by the UN-led coalition Making Cities Resilient 2030 for pioneering strategies to reduce the impact of disasters including fires and earthquakes.
Matosinhos in Portugal and the Province of Potenza in Italy have been named as the latest resilience hubs by the UN-led coalition Making Cities Resilient 2030 (MCR2030) for pioneering strategies to reduce the impact of disasters including fires and earthquakes.
Building resilient cities
UNDRR sits at the centre of the UN system for reducing risk, coordinating risk reduction activities towards a more resilient future, and protecting gains made towards the Sustainable Development Goals. It hosts the Secretariat of MCR2030, which has 11 core partners.
The city also carried out more than 3,000 community awareness campaigns between 2009 and 2019, and last year created the Matosinhos Safety Home, where the public can learn about the risks of everyday life through simulations. The municipality is committed to sharing its experience with the broader MCR2030 network and is in the early stages of collaborating with cities in Brazil as well as Dili, East Timor.
“As mayor of Matosinhos, I believe in the power of positive support, valuing the prevention, self-protection and resilience of our population,” said Luisa Salgueiro, mayor of Matosinhos.
Meanwhile, the Province of Potenza, which covers 100 municipalities, has established a permanent network for regional coordination around disaster risk reduction, investing in structural infrastructure as well as public awareness and communication campaigns.
“As mayor of Matosinhos, I believe in the power of positive support, valuing the prevention, self-protection and resilience of our population”
Since 2013, the province has included disaster resilience in its regional sustainable socio-economic development strategies, turning it into a real structural territorial action to be implemented by influencing and orienting urban planning.
The province has become a national role model for its Provincial Civil Protection System, which includes a seismic monitoring network that has been integrated into the Italian Strong Motion Network (RAN) since 2014.
The region was among those affected by the 6.6-magnitude Irpinia earthquake, which impacted 15,000 people in the south of Italy in 1980. The Province of Potenza has pledged to share its experience with the broader MCR2030 network by peering with local governments, cities and communities that intend to undertake similar resilience journeys.
“The Province of Potenza has been guided in its resilience journey by the principles of comprehensiveness, inclusiveness and integration of territorial safety, together with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals,” said Rocco Guarino, president of the Province of Potenza.
“I am honoured that our know-how and experience could benefit the worldwide community.”
“The Province of Potenza has been guided in its resilience journey by the principles of comprehensiveness, inclusiveness and integration of territorial safety, together with the UN’s Sustainable Development Goals”
Earlier this month, Malmö joined the cities of Helsingborg, Barcelona, Manchester and Milan as European Resilience Hubs.
“As the global community unites to review our progress under the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction, the efforts of Matosinhos and the Province of Potenza are an inspiration,” said Mami Mizutori, special representative of the UN secretary-general for disaster risk reduction and head of UNDRR.
“Leaders around the world must rethink the way they prevent and manage disasters and recognise that disaster risk reduction is an investment, not a cost.”
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