Roadmap for crisis management
European CM has become a complex operation involving many agencies, sometimes including those from outside Europe. It is necessary to assess Europe's general CM performance, especially in terms of weaknesses and gaps.Such was the goal of the 'Aftermath crisis management system-of-systems demonstration' (ACRIMAS)(opens in new window) project. The 15-member project ran from February 2011 to May 2012, and received EUR 1.1 million in EU funding. The project was intended to be a support action for a larger programme, and as such did not aim to produce new research findings. Instead, ACRIMAS aimed to prepare for the Demonstration Programme on Aftermath Crisis Management, Phase II, by delivering a strategic roadmap. The roadmap sets out the CM topics to be addressed by demonstrations and experiments in Phase II. ACRIMAS also aimed to describe how the Phase II activities would be conducted. A further objective for the project was to raise awareness among relevant European stakeholders about the demonstration programme. The project's overarching goal was to ensure an effective and timely response to any major crisis.The project began by analysing the political, legal and social aspects of CM. Next, the project analysed scenario-based missions, which involved mapping threats leading to CM situations challenging the EU. The mapping identified parameters characterising the priorities for CM. The mapped threats were then validated and discussed with external experts. ACRIMAS conducted an analysis of gaps and requirements, highlighting the shortcomings of current CM missions and procedures to be addressed in Phase II. Later work collated information about user needs. Project analyses led to the identification and selection of potential solutions with respect to other EU projects in the CM field. The project also investigated technical solutions by considering their appropriateness for various CM situations. Finally, the project demonstrated its roadmap, which presented a list of prioritised topics, and assessed the infrastructure requirements for demonstration. ACRIMAS made its validated results available to stakeholders via two workshops and a final event. The outcome of ACRIMAS will be better and more integrated CM for Europe.>
