Border-free management and coordination of emergencies and catastrophes. The institutions of the two countries involved in the project, Italy and Switzerland, are organised differently, information is patchy and often not shared, operational intervention procedures are independent and tools are not integrated. Government action is clearly required to set up a knowledge exchange network to enable collaboration, support and mutual aid between the institutions, to be called upon when there is the need, as set out in current agreements signed regionally and nationally.

The initiative is part of the Interreg Italy-Switzerland 2014-2020 Co-operation Programme. The aim of GESTISCO is to build a common framework to share information about rules, risks – especially those linked to natural hazards – and resources, as well as setting up a transborder operational team (NUVRE). Local operators will receive targeted training in all of the above, and everything will be included in local emergency plans. The project will also bring in the people living in the border region, as they are the first line of defence in civil protection, to give them better early warning information and help them to adopt safer behaviour.