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1.8 million euros for cross-border climate protection on the Oder!
The Interreg project “OdraClimateGuard” will start on July 12, 2025 to combat climate change and animal diseases in the Oder region.
1.8 million euros for cross-border climate protection on the Oder!
In charming Mescherin in the Uckermark district, a new cross-border project will soon be launched that will address the urgent challenges of climate change and the associated risks of new animal diseases. A funding agreement has recently been signed for the Interreg project “OdraClimateGuard”, which includes a considerable sum of 1.8 million euros. As Cityreport reports, the four districts of Uckermark, Vorpommern-Greifswald and Gryfino from Poland are committed to expanding the Oder partnership and working together against climate-related threats to compete.
As is well known, the threats posed by climate change do not stop at national borders. Karina Dörk, district administrator of the Uckermark, emphasizes the need for closer cooperation and points to the public fish mortality on the Oder in 2022 as a result of climatic changes. Targeted preparation for possible dangers is therefore essential.
Common approach
In order to tackle these challenges, three central work areas have been defined: the expansion of the Oder partnership, the development of cross-border capability management to combat animal diseases and the targeted preparation of emergency services for cross-border operations. This should be achieved through a joint assistance agreement and the coordination of alarm and operational concepts in order to be able to react quickly in an emergency. Interreg shows that collaboration is particularly crucial to combat the spread of diseases transmitted by insects such as mosquitoes and ticks.
The districts involved have specialized: While Vorpommern-Greifswald takes over the management of the emergency services, Gryfino takes care of environmental analysis and the Uckermark district is responsible for rescue from danger areas and decontamination. In this way, each region will contribute its strengths to the common cause.
An extensive project
The “OdraClimateGuard” project will run until the end of 2028 and includes several practical exercises to better train fire departments and coordinate between partners. In particular, large exercises are planned in Gryfino and Uckermark, which are intended to conclude the project. According to Nordkurier, this not only improves hazard prevention, but also optimizes mutual aid in the event of a disaster.
A total of 1,790,779.16 euros is available for the project, with the EU covering 80 percent of the costs through the European Regional Development Fund (ERDF). This shows how seriously the partners are taking the issue and that climate change and the resulting biological threats require a collective response.
During the signing of the contract, district administrators Ewa Dudar and Michael Sack emphasized the importance of a combined effort in the event of natural disasters. Everyone agrees: we can achieve more together.