Marzia Santini

Marzia Santini leads the JRC's European Crisis Management Laboratory (ECML). She is currently chairing the Global Disaster Alert and Coordination System (GDACS), an EU and UN joint initiative providing the global humanitarian aid community with rapid impact estimations of natural hazards and coordination tools since 2004.

Marzia is a geologist by training, obtaining her Ph.D. degree in Earth Sciences with a thesis on the evolution of magmatism in the central sector of the main Ethiopian rift. She later turned her focus towards disaster risk management, working for 10 years in the Civil Protection Department of the Italian Presidency of Council of Ministers. She joined the European Commission in 2020.

Areas of expertise

• Earth sciences
• Disaster risk management
• Civil protection and humanitarian aid
• Civil protection exercises design, implementation and evaluation
• Science-policy interface
• Knowledge management

Professional achievements 

• More than 10 years of experience with science-based disaster risk management and civil protection -  nationally and internationally as she previously served in the Civil Protection Department of the Italian Presidency of Council of Ministers (2010-2019).
• Part of the UNESCO-led inter-governmental coordination group for establishing a tsunami warning and mitigation system in the North East Atlantic, Mediterranean and connected seas region (ICG/NEAM TWS), between 2011 and 2020.
• Evaluation expert for Civil Protection full scale exercises such as NEIFLEX 2018 (UCPM), VARAZDIN 2017 (IPA Floods), MNEQUAKE 2014 (IPA CP2), TWIST 2013 (UCPM).
• Scientific advisor to the PPRD South Programme, supporting Civil Protection reinforcement and collaboration between EU, and Mediterranean and Balkan Partner Countries under the umbrella of the European Neighbourhood Policy (2009-2013).
• Worked on various Global Monitoring for Environment and Security (GMES) projects (e.g. BOSS4GMES, SAFER, LINKER) which lead to the launch of the Copernicus Emergency Management Service.

Academic background

Marzia has a PhD in Geology, MSc in Coordination of Civil Protection Activities, MSc in Public Administration’s Policies and Management, and MSc in Geology. 

Connect with Marzia Santini on Linkedin

You can connect with Marzia through her LinkedIn profile.