European University Cyprus and CERIDES – Center of Excellence in Risk and Decision Sciences were proud to participate in the official kick-off meeting of the EU-ALPEX-2027 Full-Scale Preparedness Exercise. EU-ALPEX-2027 is a Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM) Full-Scale Exercise, funded by the European Commission’s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO).
CERIDES already has a strong cooperation tradition with the EU-ALPEX-2027 Project Coordinator French Directorate-General for Civil Security and Crisis Management (Direction générale de la Sécurité civile et de la gestion des crises, DGSCGC) in DG-ECHO projects like NEMAUSUS, SEMEDFIRE, DEMONAX, and many others. Within the context of the EU-ALPEX-2027 project implementation, CERIDES will lead the exercise evaluation process (Work Package 5: Evaluation & Way Forward), through the application of the ‘FAIM’ Exercise Evaluation Framework, originally introduced by Dr. Christos Dimopoulos, CERIDES Director of Science in Civil Protection.
We are grateful to Mr Frédéric Harrault and Mr Damien Zimmermann from Direction générale de la Sécurité civile et de la gestion des crises, as well as to Ms Maria Tuomela, Mr Per Oyvind Semb, and Ms Donatella Salvi from DG-ECHO for the excellent organisation and implementation of the kick-off meeting. We are also grateful to all representatives from the EU-ALPEX-2027 consortium partners who actively participated and contributed to the activities of the kick-off meeting.
The CERIDES Team currently responsible for the implementation of the EU-ALPEX-2027 project tasks comprises the following scientists:
Dr. Christos Dimopoulos (Scientific Manager)
Mr. Evangelos Katsaros (Researcher)
Dr. Demetris Hadjiloucas (Researcher)
Professor George Boustras (Scientific Advisor)
The EU-ALPEX-2027 exercise aims to improve the preparedness of the services and agencies involved in the operational management of an earthquake with cascading effects on high-mountain territories affected by the effects of climate change, in a context of lack of resources requiring the activation of the Union’s Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). The Exercise also aims to test the alerting and informing of the population thanks to the necessary involvement of the local authorities.
EU-ALPEX-2027 will take place in Chamonix Valley, France
EU-ALPEX-2027 Consortium:
Direction générale de la Sécurité civile et de la gestion des crises (Project Coordinator)
BRGM (France)
Italian Civil Protection Department
General Secretariat of Civil Protection (Greece)
European University Cyprus / CERIDES – Center of Excellence in Risk and Decision Sciences (Cyprus)
Croix-Rouge française (France)
Service public fédéral Intérieur (Belgium)
Synergies International Consulting (Slovenia)