The COLLARIS Network – now officially 'COLLARIS2' – continues its work on the use of UAS, such as drones, in civil protection and disaster management with a series of events and a new discussion group. On May 16, the project hosted its first webinar presenting a foresight report and most promising drone use-cases (e.g., AED-delivery in Sweden). The event gathered more than 20 participants from across Europe and was also used to invite experts in the field to take part in the first COLLARIS2 trial in Poland in mid-June, and to encourage them to join the newly established project discussion group within the UCPKN platform.
Observatory of Best Practices as a Response to the Project’s Foresight Study
The first section of the webinar, conducted by Anna Kobierzycka (CBK PAN), was dedicated to an introduction of the project and the planned activities in 2025 and 2026. Jakub Ryzenko (CBK PAN), then, presented the main findings of the foresight report „2030 horizon for drones in civil protection and crisis management activities” from 2024 (which is accessible here), also asking the webinar participants for their input (e.g., further general enablers for drone use in disaster management).
One of the main conclusions of the report was: While there is a high number of drone solutions that has already achieved technical maturity, today, only a relatively small fraction of available capabilities is used operationally for rescue and crisis management. Effective use of drones is limited mainly by legal and organisational obstacles and not by pace of technology development.
Thus, two of COLLARIS2’s main results will be an overview of different national drone regulations, as well as an observatory of best practises which will analyse operational practices in several thematic areas, such as having drones first on scene after an incident, and using drones in wildfires and floods. The goal of the observatory is to support cooperation between institutions in exchanging experiences and sharing relevant know-how.
Use Cases: Delivering AEDs with Drones Is Already Happening
Josephine Boineau (CBK PAN), then, presented three interesting drone use cases. The first one was the severe flooding event in southern Poland in September 2024 where drones played a critical role in supporting crisis response – e.g., through aerial reconnaissance of damages as well as mapping and 3D modelling.
The second use case was the Mountain Rescue in Poland (Tatra Volunteer Search and Rescue, TOPR) which has significantly increased their use of drones in recent years. An operation during which a drone was used to deliver a thermal jacket, a heat pack and a radio to a stranded tourist in the mountains was discussed in more detail.
Finally, the third use case was AED-delivery with drones in Sweden. As of early 2025, this service operates in six locations across Västra Götaland, covering more than 250,000 residents and aiming to help bystanders use the AED within minutes. A published study about this service has shown promising results.
Join the COLLARIS2 Discussion Group!
In case you are interested in the webinar contents in more detail, check out the project’s website on the UCPKN platform where you can access the webinar slides as a PDF file.
We would also like to invite experts in the field of drone use within disaster response to join the project’s new UCPKN discussion group called ‘Challenges and Opportunities of Drone Use in Disaster Management’. The first discussion question in the group is about further promising or underused drone use cases that might be interesting for our network. Click here to find the group (on the bottom of the page).
About COLLARIS2
The EU-funded project COLLARIS2 is the successor to COLLARIS (COLLaborative network on unmanned AeRIal Systems) and focuses on the use of UAS (e.g., drones) in the field of civil protection and disaster management. Building upon the results of the COLLARIS Network, this project aims to continue, expand and further develop the already established international network of crisis management and civil protection practitioners, research institutions and public administration. The members of the network collect and transfer knowledge, exchange experiences, skills, good practices and information on operational procedures for the optimal use of drones in crisis management and rescue missions.