CERIDES is happy to announce the successful implementation of the Final Planning Conference of the DG-ECHO Full-Scale Exercise project HOPE, which took place in Yerevan, Armenia, between the 6th and the 8th of September 2023. The CERIDES team which co-organised the Conference consisted of Mr. Evangelos Katsaros, CERIDES Research Associate and Manager of the project, Dr. Christos Dimopoulos, CERIDES co-Director, Scientific and Head Evaluator of the project. A visual summary of the event is provided below:
HOPE FSX Final Planning Conference
During HOPE’s Final Planning Conference the participants had the opportunity to discuss and agree the final details of the Full-Scale Exercise (FSX) which is due to take place between the 9th and the 13th of October 2023 in Yerevan, Armenia. Participants were briefed on the planned injects, the logistics, and the safety & security considerations (discussion on these topics supported by Mr. Evangelos Katsaros), as well as on the topic of exercise evaluation (the evaluation framework was presented by Dr. Christos Dimopoulos). The different programs (Observers, VIP) which will take place during the FSX were also discussed.
During the last day of the Conference the participants had the opportunity to visit the main exercise sites. They were also offered a very informative tour to the famous Garni Archaeological Site, as well as to the Armenian Genocide Museum, which is one of the cultural heritage sites that will be used during the exercise implementation.
The event was hosted by Ms. Armine Hayrapetyan, Acting Rector of the Armenian Crisis Management State Academy and Representative of the Armenian Ministry of Emergency Situations in foreign countries and International Organisations. The event was also attended by the representative of the Emergency Management Agency of the Ministry of Interior of Georgia Republic, as one of the main aims of the HOPE project is to improve the international cross border cooperation procedures of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism.
The participants were also very happy to welcome once again Mr. Peter Glerum, Team Leader of the PPRD EAST 3 Project, as well as the DG-ECHO Project Officer Ms. Mariangela Pelliccia, who offered her valuable insights on the design and implementation of the upcoming Exercise, based on her significant experience on the topic.
The HOPE FSX project is funded by the European Commission – #ECHO through the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (Call: UCPM-2021-EXT). CERIDES – Center of Excellence in Risk and Decision Sciences acts as the Coordinating Organisation for this project.
The aim of the project is to improve civil protection preparedness and response capabilities of #Armenia in dealing with large, complex disasters that require joint response coordination facilitated via the Union Civil Protection Mechanism #UCPM and #INSARAG.
The project consortium of HOPE consists of the following members:
European University Cyprus / CERIDES – Center of Excellence in Risk and Decision Sciences (Cyprus) (Project Coordinator)
Ministry of Emergency Situations (MES) (Armenia)
Protection and Rescue Directorate (North Macedonia)
Ministry of Interior (Montenegro)
BRGM (France)
Direction générale de la Sécurité civile et de la gestion des crises (France)
General Secretariat Civil Protection (Greece)