Implementing digital tools and stakeholders' engagement in addressing flood protection in CI. The Sitia case study

The Municipality of Sitia, in eastern Crete, has experienced flash floods, especially during intense, short storms. The region has faced, and is becoming more prone to, disastrous flood events, as shown by serious incidents in October 2022 and April 2019. The area's very complex geomorphology, marked by small, steep catchments connected to dried and partly blocked torrents that fill quickly, makes it highly vulnerable to severe urban flooding. Within the context of the EU-funded Med-IREN (Mediterranean Critical Infrastructure Resilience Engineering with Nature-Based Solutions (NBS)) project, Sitia is addressing the implementation of NBS to reduce the impact of flooding caused by extreme precipitation upstream from the river or torrent that flows through the city. During the Public-Private-Civil Partnership (PPCP ^\circledR ) workshop, local stakeholders of Sitia engaged in discussions supported by advanced flood modelling tools about a) the role of models in CI resilience assessment, b) planting of endemic species for flood reduction, and c) the role of the municipality in responding to such disasters and improving coordination between different stakeholders.

Keywords: Nature-based solutions; Public-Private-Civil society Partnership; Critical Infrastructure; resilience..