PReparedness against CBRNE threats through cOmmon Approaches between security praCTItioners and the VulnerablE civil society

Project Information

PROACTIVE

Grant agreement ID: 832981

DOI

10.3030/832981

Project closed

EC signature date 26 April 2019

Start date 1 May 2019

End date 31 August 2023

Funded under

• Secure societies - Protecting freedom and security of Europe and its citizens

Total cost

€ 4 970 028,75

EU contribution

€ 4 970 028,75

Coordinated by

UNION INTERNATIONALE DES CHEMINS DE FER
France

Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PROACTIVE (PReparedness against CBRNE threats through cOmmon Approaches between security praCTItioners and the VulnerablE civil society)

Reporting period: 2020-11-01 to 2023-08-31

Summary of the context and overall objectives of the project

In line with the EU Action Plan to enhance preparedness against chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) security risks and the overall Security Union approach to fight crime and terrorism, PROACTIVE aimed to enhance societal CBRN preparedness by increasing Practitioner effectiveness in managing large, diverse groups of people in a CBRNe environment, thus making CBRNe crisis preparedness and response fair, accessible and inclusive.

The project has been liaising with more than 100 practitioner organisations and more than 50 civil society organisations, including vulnerable groups, who have been directly involved in a multitude of research and innovation activities. This strong engagement allowed PROACTIVE to co-create a crisis communication system (CCS) for both practitioners and citizens, as well as public pre-incident information materials.

These tools have been tested in three field training exercises (FTX) where members of the public interacted with first responders. PROACTIVE ensured that at least 15% of role play volunteers represented a vulnerable group. The field training exercises allowed PROACTIVE to repeatedly study the interactions between CBRNe practitioners and civil society, to evaluate the acceptability and usability of existing procedures and test new tools developed by the project.

These outputs, combined with an Aide Memoire on how to include civil society in training exercises, will hopefully allow CBRNe practitioners and policymakers to improve societal resilience.

Work performed from the beginning of the project to the end of the period covered by the report and main results achieved so far

The project started with WP1 which performed two systematic literature reviews of 60 academic papers related to public perceptions of CBRNe preparedness and response and of 95 documents from 18 different countries on CBRNe incident management.

WP2 aimed at creating a strong engagement with Practitioners. At the end of the project, the Practitioner Stakeholder Advisory Board (PSAB) consisted of 101 member organisations from 25 countries representing 12 types of organisations. The PSAB continuously engaged with the project’s activities, through two studies which helped identify gaps, workshops and focus groups to assist in the co-creation of project outputs and participation at the exercises.

Likewise, WP3 has developed a strong engagement with the civil society including vulnerable citizens. At the end of the project, the Civil Society Advisory Board (CSAB) consisted of 53 member organisations, representing 20 countries and 18 categories of vulnerabilities. The CSAB continuously engaged with the project, through one study on citizen expectations regarding CBRNe incidents, workshops and focus groups to assist in the co-creation of project outputs and participation at the exercises. Furthermore, based on the lessons learned from involving vulnerable groups the exercises, an Aide Memoire was produced.

In WP4 the requirements for the Web Collaborative Platform and for the Mobile Application for LEAs were implemented through an iterative process, as part of the PROACTIVE CCS. A Policy-making toolkit, comprised of policy guidelines for the implementation of the PROACTIVE CCS and three policy briefs, was developed.

In WP5 the requirements for the Mobile Application for vulnerable citizens were implemented through an iterative process as part of the PROACTIVE CCS. As part of the toolkit for civil society, the Final Pre-Incident Public Information Materials for CBRNe terrorism were developed in eight different iterations.

In WP6, considerable effort has been expended in coordinating planning meetings with eNOTICE and, with the advent of Covid-19, significant time and effort has been invested in contingency planning to mitigate against the impact of the pandemic and rescheduling of the exercises. PROACTIVE organised a tabletop exercise prior to the 3 FTXs which were successfully delivered.

In WP7, regular communication, dissemination and exploitation actions have been performed. Communication materials highlighting the project progress and key achievements were created all along the reporting period. Project results were disseminated in over 10 scientific publications and by attending and contributing to over 65 external events. The Final Conference was organised and held as a hybrid event, both in Brussels and online with 120 participants. The dissemination and exploitation strategy was improved through the Horizon Booster programme.

All the developments were done in compliance with the legal and ethical requirements set out in WP8 and the additional requirements set in WP10. The social impact assessment framework addressed the societal and ethical dimensions of PROACTIVE outputs. An ethical approach was applied in the involvement of the public at large, including vulnerable groups, in the project research activities and in particular in the exercises. The PROACTIVE Ethical Framework was based on a Human Rights Approach to vulnerability.

WP9 ensured the overall coherence and quality of the work performed as well as the functionality and effectiveness of the consortium. The management tools and procedures have been implemented in line with the quality management plan of the project.

Progress beyond the state of the art and expected potential impact (including the socio-economic impact and the wider societal implications of the project so far)

PROACTIVE provided key knowledge about public and responder interactions during a CBRNe incident, with a particular focus on the needs of vulnerable citizens, which was a big achievement in the European Research and Innovation world. The combined results from the desk research activity streams were used to create 11 PROACTIVE Core Recommendations.

The evaluation of the Pre-Incident Public Information Materials demonstrated they can effectively influence knowledge, understanding and confidence in undertaking recommended behaviours over the long term (for at least six months). As an open resource, the PROACTIVE materials can be further adapted by any organisation or government.

The PROACTIVE CCS is an innovative response tool which improves two-way communication between civil society and first responders. It also increases preparedness through its CBRNe Library. The system was co-created with its end-users. The PROACTIVE CCS was developed with an open Application Programming Interface (API), which can therefore interface with existing operational systems used by LEAs. The CCS continues to be developed as an integral part of commercial exploitation. Furthermore, the PROACTIVE Stakeholder Engagement Model can be used by other projects and is likely to facilitate the uptake by end users of crisis communication systems.

The field activities allowed to evaluate the acceptability and usability of existing procedures and tools used by first responders and test new tools developed by the project. In each exercise, a minimum of 50% of the role play volunteers represented a vulnerable group. Role play volunteers also benefited by increasing their preparedness for CBRNe incidents, leading to an overall increase in societal resilience. Based on this, we also developed an Aide Memoire for training exercises involving vulnerable groups. It should help exercise planners prepare for diverse citizen participation in their exercise and training activities, which is likely to contribute to long-term impact.

The results of the project highlighted certain gaps which could be further carried on in various standardisation technical committees such as the ISO TC292 WG3/WG5, CEN TC391 or existing standards such as the ISO 22395.

Overall PROACTIVE Project Framework