The project Integrative flood risk governance approach for improvement of risk awareness and increased public participation - IMRA, is a 2^nd ERA-Net CRUE Research Funding Initiative, aiming to Integrate, Consolidate and Disseminate European Flood Risk Management Research. The IMRA project designed its research around the following main questions:

•  What is the relationship between true flood risk and the public’s risk perception? What factors determine this relationship? What are the implications for FRM policy?
• How can public participation in flood risk management be increased through better risk communication and greater risk awareness?
• How can participation in the establishment of FRM plans be encouraged and improved as a feature of “good governance”?
• What can institutions learn from improved understanding of risk communication approaches, tools and techniques? How can this learning be applied to improve the effectiveness of communications to the public (across a range of FRM activities, e.g., mapping, planning, event management etc.)?
• How can risk be reduced by increased public awareness and participation? Which is the impact of better public awareness and participation in the reduction or alleviation of flood risk?

Main output of the IMRA project is the design of a risk governance approach, which aims at enhancing the disaster resilience of a society (or a region, city, municipality) and includes all relevant actors, rules, conventions, processes, and mechanisms concerned with how relevant risk information is collected, analysed and communicated and management decisions are taken as prescribed in Article 10 of the Flood Risk Management Directive.

The elements of this risk governance approach that are relevant for risk management practice are compiled in a handbook (English, German and Italian versions) consisting of a 12-step approach to flood risk governance and a toolbox of methods for designing a flood risk communication and participation process.

The project is running starting from September 2009