The importance of a strict relationship between civil protection organizations and the scientific community is widely recognized today at international and European level, so much so that the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction places “Understanding Risk” as the first among four priorities, which must be achieved with the best scientific knowledge, to make well-grounded decisions for the purpose of Disaster Risk Reduction. Moreover, the European Union is increasingly involving the scientific community in the decision-making process for disaster risk reduction and civil protection matters, making an effort to build a science-based European system, where science is not used just for general policy decisions but also for operational issues. 

For about forty years, the Italian civil protection has relied upon the scientific community to make decisions based on the most advanced and consolidated knowledge, for activities that concern the entire risk management cycle. The interactions between civil protection and scientific community take place in Italy through the so-called Competence Centers and the Major Risk Commission. Competence Centers are the scientific operational partners, as they provide products resulting from research and innovation activities that can be integrated in civil protection activities. 

This lecture aims to describe how centers of competence operate, in a way that has evolved over the years. The focus will be on the last decade scientific activities and on some important scientific products related to seismic risk.