CERIDES Centre-of-Excellence in Risk & Decision Sciences proudly participated and actively contributed to the 
Cyprus Presidency of the EU Council #CY2026EU “3rd Euro-Mediterranean High-Level Workshop on Fire-Risks”, held in Pafos on 6 to 8 May 2026.
#EuroMediterranean #HighLevelWorkshop
#fire #risks.
The European Commission’s Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO) and the Union for the Mediterranean (UfM) co-organised this High-Level Workshop, within the framework of the Programme for Prevention Preparedness Response to natural & man-made Disasters in the southern & eastern Mediterranean – PPRD Med, building on the two previous editions held in Tunis (2024) and Barcelona (2025). With the strong Cypriot co-organisation of the Cyprus Civil Defence Force, the Workshop was conducted within the High-Level Events of the Cyprus Presidency of the Council of the EU.
The #CY2026EU edition in Pafos, from 6 to 8 May 2026, focused operationally on fire risk management, addressing both wildfires (forest and bush fires) and industrial fire risks. Fire emergencies are increasingly more complex, posing multifaceted systemic challenges, thus requiring integrated, intersectoral and intedisciplinary approaches.
Discussions addressed among others: Integrated Fire Management, early detection via space-based and satellite services, fire monitoring, forecasting and decision-support AI and advanced analytics, Governance and interoperability frameworks (the latter especially through a panel with concrete representation from the DARE Project, where CERIDES is a Work-Package-Leader on “Testing & Evaluation of Interoperability in Trials).
Deliberations were conducted also about: how the climate crisis has changed the underlying assumptions of traditional preparedness plans; what are the tangible interdisciplinary-intersectoral-international interoperability needs of aerial and ground resources; how science, research, innovation (and their relevant EU-funding via Horizon, DG ECHO, Erasmus+, Interreg, etc) should support preparedness and response; and how the evolution of preparedness is envisioned through an interoperable capabilities framework, developed via science/research-evidenced “triple-i and quadruple-helix” approaches.
CERIDES underlined our known proposition of “Knowledge – Composure – Discipline”, and we recalled the operational-behaviour motto of “Mission First – Safety Always” 
#IntegratedFireManagement, #Earlydetection #regionalcooperation, #prevention #riskreduction #preparedness #Governance #interoperability #firemonitoring #capacitybuilding #capabilities #operationalreadiness #europeancoordination #ucpm #ufm #pprdmed #civilprotection #euecho #EUCivProt #strongertogether
The workshop highlighted regional cooperation around the Cyprus Regional Aerial Firefighting Station (#CRAFS); the new aerial fire fighting hub for the MENA region and the collaboration between the EU Member States and the Countries of the Neighborhood, thus providing a platform for EU and non-EU Mediterranean partners, policymakers and experts, to deliberate and exchange views, opinions, experiences and lessons learned on strengthening operational cooperation across the disaster management cycle. CERIDES-Director Prof. George Boustras moderated the important high-level panel: “Fire Risk Landscape in Europe and the Mediterranean – preparing better for the future and possible solutions” as part of the High-Level segment. The panel focused on the introduction of CRAFS, and Impressive Keynote speeches were deliered by European Commissioner Hadja Lahbib, the CypriotMinister of Interior Constantinos Ioannou, 
Deputy Minister of Emergency Management Ahmed Ekzayez and UfM Deputy Secretary General Joan Borell.
