The Exchange of Experts in Civil Protection Programme aims at connecting experts across borders to broaden their operational knowledge and skills through practical experience and knowledge sharing. The exchanges offer insight into the work of different civil protection entities across Europe and beyond.
A new Exchange of Experts in Civil Protection Programme website and application platform has just been launched. It introduces an easier way of applying for an exchange and of approving the form, for National Training Coordinators (NTCs).
The advantage of the new process for civil protection experts and hosts is the possibility to see their applications from previous exchanges and the status of approval. For National Training Coordinators the system sends a notification by e-mail that their national expert or institution would like to apply for an exchange of experts. They can validate, deny or validate the application with an included comment directly from the e-mail notification.
The 5th cycle of the Exchange of Experts in Civil Protection Programme kicked-off at the beginning of the year with many applications from civil protection experts from EU countries but also from eligible third countries. In total 143 applications were submitted on the platform (21 host application and 122 expert applications).
There are three things that the Exchange of Experts organising team (hereinafter - EoE team) would like the applicants to keep in mind when applying on the website for a possible exchange:
First, think about and clearly explain the aim and objectives of the exchange; focus on added value for your organisation but also the EU-added value, what improvements the exchange could bring.
Second, effective communication is crucial for the management of expectations from the host and expert for a fruitful exchange. The best way to establish and understand the expectations is to organise a pre-meeting online with the host to talk about the different aspects of the objectives and how could they be reached.
Thirdly, the reporting phase after the exchange is mandatory, moreover it provides information for the benefit of other experts and organisations, and for the improvement of the Programme. Correctly filling in the field report means explaining in detail the activities carried out during the exchange, results achieved, recommendations and further use in the organisation. This knowledge, good practices and lessons learned are valuable to share and disseminate to other civil protection organisations with a similar topic of interest.
To find out more, please visit: https://www.exchangeofexperts.eu/
