Putting young people at the heart of resilience: European Parliament Intergroup supports "Are You Ready?" Campaign

Strasbourg, September 2026 – As schools reopen across Europe, Members of the European Parliament are helping put young people at the heart of efforts to build safer, more resilient communities through their support for UNDRR’s “Are You Ready?” campaign.

Members of the European Parliament Intergroup on Resilience, Disaster Management and Civil Protection supported the campaign’s Back to School activation, encouraging policymakers, educators, parents and young people to engage with disaster risk reduction and school safety. 

The campaign comes as Europe reflects on a summer marked by record temperatures, droughts and widespread wildfires. On 15 September, Members of the European Parliament, the European Commission and the Irish Presidency of the Council took stock of lessons from the extreme events of summer 2026, in a plenary debate on EU preparedness. They noted the devastating impacts including more than 35,000 excess deaths, almost 700,000 hectares had burned across the EU and major waterways including the Danube and Rhine experienced record-low water levels. 

The debate highlighted the importance of strengthening the EU’s capacity to prevent increasingly frequent extreme weather events. It also comes as the European Parliament prepares its position on a proposal to expand the EU Civil Protection Mechanism under the next Multiannual Financial Framework, with a broader scope and increased funding. 

Reflecting on the impacts of this summer’s extreme events, Intergroup Co-Chair Grégory Allione said that “devastating forest fires, dried rivers, repeated heatwaves” show that the time has come to act decisively. Intergroup Vice-Chair Annalisa Corrado similarly called for greater investment in resilience, describing this year’s extreme season as “the hottest summer ever seen and the coolest of the coming ones.” 

Against this backdrop, the Are You Ready? campaign highlights a critical dimension of resilience: ensuring that children and young people have the knowledge, tools and opportunities to understand risk and take action. Safer schools are an important foundation for resilient communities, helping protect children while strengthening awareness of disaster risk from an early age. 

UNDRR provides technical input to the European Parliament Intergroup, supporting the integration of disaster risk reduction across policy discussions, including climate adaptation, civil protection, education and community resilience. 

The Back to School activation also builds momentum towards the International Day for Disaster Risk Reduction on 13 October, when UNDRR will continue to highlight the importance of safer schools and youth leadership in building resilient societies. 

The campaign comes at a time of growing attention to how Europe can strengthen resilience to a changing risk landscape. With the forthcoming visit of UNDRR Special Representative Kamal Kishore to Brussels and a dedicated IDDRR discussion on the message that resilience starts at home, UNDRR and its European Parliament partners will continue to highlight the importance of putting people and communities at the centre of disaster risk reduction.