It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to the institutional website of CERU – the European Centre for Urban Risks.

Established in 1999 under the EUR-OPA Major Hazards Agreement of the Council of Europe, CERU’s mission is to support municipalities in the assessment, prevention and mitigation of urban risks, through the production and sharing of technical and scientific knowledge.

In a context shaped by increasingly complex and interconnected risks, the importance of anticipating threats, strengthening territorial capacity and adopting integrated approaches to risk management has never been greater.

CERU believes that the technical empowerment of municipalities and institutional cooperation, at both national and European levels, are essential pillars for a more effective and sustainable response to urban risks. To that end, we actively promote:

• The strengthening of municipalities’ technical autonomy and informed decision-making capacity;
• Participation in, support for, and dissemination of research projects in the field of risk;
• The sharing of good practices and experiences, both national and international, in the area of risk mitigation;
• The development of training activities, workshops and seminars aimed at technical staff, decision-makers and the general public;
• The consolidation of a genuine culture of prevention, resilience and territorial safety.

We invite you to explore this space, to learn more about our work and to join us in building safer, better-prepared and more resilient territories.

Mónica Amaral Ferreira, President of the CERU Board of Directors