Tag: EUCPT

EU HNS Lessons Learned Meeting in Warsaw

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Warsaw, 30th of March: A successful Lessons Learned meeting of our two Host Nation Support exercises was conducted in beautiful Warsaw, Poland. We could analyse the two exercises together with Marcin Kędra, our DG ECHO project officer, Bogdan Pop, Cristian Boeriu, Turucz Emilia and Sedei Artur Vladimir and our friends from iHELP institute.
On most topics there was a common understanding, the environment was not easy, starting with Covid-19, inflation and the ongoing war in Ukraine, neighbouring the Republic of Moldova. One of the conclusions was, that the host countries could learn a lot and were able to improve and adapt their national structures to the EU HNS guideline and the UCPM generally. Due to the efforts of all partners: DSU, Department for Emergency Situations, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Romania, iHELP institute, PubliComm GmbH and the University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Târgu Mureş, we could solve all challenges of this project. We got great assistance from the host countries, the General Inspectorate for Emergency Situations, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Republic of Moldova, and the Public Security Directorate, Civil Defence Directorate, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

Second EU HNS TTX successful conducted

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The EU HNS Tabletop Exercise from 22-24 February in Răzeni, Moldova, was successfully conducted, I had the honour, to be the project manager. publiComm GmbH is one of the partners in the EU HNS consortium and was mainly responsible for the following tasks: the organisational part of the TTX, the exercise logistics, the event management, and public relations,
This included in detail booking flights, booking accommodation, maintaining the list of participants, updating certificates, media coverage, project documentation, VIP and observer management, and also contact with the hotel management.
Other tasks like the media presence before, during and after the TTX were and are still a big part of the media coverage, printing and preparing the booklets, and certificates to the participants, which were also professionally prepared mostly by our staff.
The publiComm team consists of me, Harald Mailer-Fellner, Michael Kollroser, Mag. Eva Kröpfl, Daniel Bointner Photography (www.danielbointner.at), Dr. Brigitta Sáfár, Dr. Timar Tamás, and our back office in Austria, Jimmy Zimmermann, Andre, and Barbara Debre did again an excellent job.
Our partner DIE KRISENPLANER (http://www.diekrisenplaner.at) updated the software for the e-learning platform and supported us during the TTX.
Special thanks go to the Department for Emergency Situations at the Romanian Ministry of Internal Affairs, and Dr. Bogdan Pop for the excellent cooperation and friendship over many years.
#EUHNS
#exercisemanagement
#projectmanagement

Our Jordan EU HNS TTX movie is out!

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The first EU HNS TTX of our EU-funded project was conducted two weeks ago in Amman, Jordan. We are happy to present you the summary of the EU HNS tabletop exercise conducted in Amman, Jordan. Here is the video from the exercise:
The consortium is led by the Department for Emergency Situations, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Romania, partners are: publiComm, media and consultancy, Austria, iHELP Institute, Poland and the project evaluator, the University of Medicine, Pharmacy, Science and Technology of Târgu Mureş. The exercise was successfully implemented with the support of the Public Security Directorate, Civil Defense Directorate, the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan.

EU HNS: stakeholder meeting in Amman

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Amman: From July 3rd to 5th, we had the next important step in our project, the stakeholder meeting with the Public Security Directorate, Civil Defence Directorate of the Hashemite Kingdom of Jordan. Experts from the Romanian Department for Emergency Situations (Ministry of Interior), iHELP Institute, publiComm GmbH and the University of Târgu Mureș.

With us was the project officer from the European Union, Civil Protection, Geir Ellingsen. The project, a tabletop exercise on HNS (Host Nation Support), was presented and the framework was discussed. This international exercise will be conducted in Amman in November this year.
#euhns
#EUCivPro
#CivProKnowNet

INDIMA Final Workshop successfull

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At the final workshop of INDIMA-project the Chief of Operations of ISU Timiș (Inspectorate for Emergency Situations) presented the use of the network concept at the SIMEX as very useful, especially for the utilities and Critical Infrastructure companies.

Dr Bogdan Pop, Project Director: “The INDIMA consortium has to thank you for your commitment and great participation in the project!”

Josef Riener, Project Manager: “Due to the Covid-19 pandemic a second PEM in February in Timișoara was a necessity, to clarify the safety measures and possible restrictions on-site. This can nowadays be considered a very good decision, coz the technical arrangements for the setup of three workstations of the subcontracted VR could be clarified there. This activity supported the smooth execution of the complete digitally situation and injects of the scenario very much.”

#knowledgenetwork

Josef H. Riener, MSc, left, with Secretary of State, Dr Raed Arafat

EU HNS consortium meeting in Bucharest

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Bucharest: From 1. May till 2. May we had a very successful consortium meeting at the Department of Emergency Situations of Ministerul Afacerilor Interne România. This internal kick-off meeting was very important for the project management, we discussed the internal communication, timeline of the project, milestones, deliverables and roles and responsibilities within the project. Thank you, Bogdan Pop, Emilia Turucz, Artur Vladimir Sedei, and all partners for your high motivation and important contributions!
The next task will be to draft the project handbook…

Photo: Josef H. Riener, MSc, left, Project Manager of EU HNS, with the head of Department of Emergency Situations, Romania, Secretary of State, Dr Raed Arafat.

Pre-exercise meeting on 3rd and 4th February in Timișoara, Romania

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The INDIMA consortium conducted the pre-exercise meeting on 3rd and 4th February in Timișoara, Romania, for an on-site visit of the venue of the SIMEX. Experts from iHELP, Poland, Hungarian Red Cross and PubliComm, Austria discussed with the executives from DSU (Department for Emergency Situations), Fundatia pentru SMURD and ISU Timiș (Timiș county Inspectorate for Emergency Situations) to clarify the last open topics. The Covid-19 situation and measures for the exercise were checked again to have a secure environment for all participants of the SIMEX.
The VR support was presented by Emilia Turucz, the exercise management and the schedule was successful updated, the Project Director, Bogdan Pop and the Project Manager, Josef H. Riener are now confident, that the preps for the SIMEX next March are on track.
#EUCPM #eusaveslives #eucivpro #Knowledgenetwork

INDIMA project: Pre Exercise Meeting

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Innovation and the implementation of contemporary tools are key for the DG ECHO’s Knowledge Network projects. Our participation in the INDIMA PEM (SIMEX pre-exercise meeting) was very important for the projects next step, the SIMEX (simulation exercise). Together with the consortium partners, we were working out the details, participants, venue and final setup. The PEM was held in Békéscsaba, Hungary, from 25. till 29. October 2021, I as INDIMA project manager participated.

The PEM was perfectly organised by the Hungarian Red Cross, Disaster Management Department, led by Dr Brigitta Sáfár. INDIMA project seeks to develop and improve a concept of a holistic approach to disaster risk management by integrating all relevant stakeholders into preplanned joint preparatory and response activities. The consortium running the INDIMA project (INtegrated DIsaster MAnagement) is coordinated by the Emergency Department of the Ministry of Internal Affairs, Romania and has the following entities: Publicomm GmbH, Austria, Hungarian Red Cross, Hungary and iHELP Institute, Poland.

Organisational themes were addressed both in terms of coordination of the exercise (EXCON – exercise control), but also the definition of participating structures, representatives from the four project partners, but also the collaborative structures: Austrian Red Cross, Budapest Water Works, Szegedi Önkentes Tüzoltoés Mentöegyesület (Szeged volunteer fire and rescue service). The discussions were coordinated by the project director (Dr Bogdan Pop, deputy director-general DSU) and project manager (Joe Riener, Publicomm Austria). From the Romanian side, participated: Vladimir Sedei – DSU (Assessment Team Coordinator), Insp. Pr. Pr. Ionut Machiș – DSU (Assessor), Dr Emilia Turucz, ER-SMURD Mureș (XVR team coordinator) and Mr Andrei Poam – Banat Emergency Inspectorate of Timiș County.

The main objective of the INDIMA project, funded by the European Union (ECHO / B / 03 101017), is to develop a concept to optimise cooperation and improve coordination between a wide range of government and non-governmental, civil stakeholders and military as well as public and private. This concept will be tested in a SIMEX (simulation exercise) with approximately 40 participants from several European states, the situation will be viewed in a simulation supported by virtual reality. The objective of this two-day exercise is to test the implementation of the concept, gain knowledge for practice and finally explore and strengthen the synergies between civil protection, humanitarian aid organizations and private entities.

Jose Almodovar, online CP Seminar

IRONORE2019: project finished

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IRONORE2019: The largest international exercise in Austria (with over 1,000 participants) took place as one of the highlights of the IRONORE project in September 2019.  With the civil protection seminar on 10.-11. September 2020 as the last event, the project has now been completed.  IRONORE2019 was co-financed as a full exercise by the EU, project partners were the Red Cross Styria and Hungary as well as iHELP from Poland.

As project manager of the Austrian Red Cross, HQ, it was my job to implement the project proposal with the partners.  The project proposal was challenging and future-oriented.  Several workshops on current topics, the implementation of virtual reality and a “Discussion Based Exercise” came before the realistic, three-day full scale exercise in Eisenerz.

Four more workshops and the civil protection seminar were scheduled for 2020, but then came Covid-19.  The first two workshops could still take place, then the lockdown was issued in Austria.  The planned end of the project was June 2020, a three-month extension of the project duration was agreed with the EU Directorate General (DG ECHO), as was the switch to online events.

José Almodóvar Aráez, DG ECHO’s project officer said: “IRONORE is one of the best projects I have been involved since I arrived at DG ECHO … … So I was and I am still quite satisfied with the result of this project and all the synergies and cooperations we had.! ”

As responsible project manager of the Austrian Red Cross, I have to say THANK YOU to all of our partners, participating organizations and experts for the excellent cooperation!