Project INN-QUAKE (Integration of multi-flexible expert teams into overall response efforts) gathered for the Initial Planning Conference to Tyrol, Austria, in May 2026. The event took place at the military training ground of Wattener Lizum and focused on planning for the Full-Scale Field Exercise to be organised in September 2027 in Tyrol.
The cross-border mountainous region of Tyrol, Austria, faces a high risk of cascading disasters, driven by a high susceptibility to floods, wildfires, and landslides, alongside a moderate risk of earthquakes. Compounding this vulnerability, Tyrol's growing popularity as a tourist destination places an increasing number of people, residents and tourists, in remote, mountainous areas during outdoor activities. Consequently, a large-scale seismic event could expose a substantial population to severe danger. To mitigate these potentially disastrous effects, it is critical to strengthen regional operational efficiency, emergency response, mountain search and rescue, evacuation, and wildland firefighting capabilities. The other participating countries face also similar issues with remote and hard-to-reach areas in emergency response. INN-QUAKE’s main goal is to support the integration of multi-flexible expert teams such as small teams of mountain rescuers, cave rescuers, other search and rescue teams and an EU Civil Protection Team in overall response efforts, focusing especially on working together in remote areas.
At the Initial Planning Conference, the project consortium representing 11 organizations from Austria, Germany, Spain, Finland, Greece, the Czech Republic, Iceland, and Slovenia met in person to outline the Main Events and Injects for the 2027 Full-Scale Exercise. Core stakeholders, including the Red Cross, firefighters, mountain rescue, and the military, collaborated on enhancing the interoperability of small teams in remote areas during cascading disaster scenarios. After evaluating potential sites via ground vehicles and aircraft, the first key parameters for the exercise were established to guide the upcoming planning phases.
In the autumn, the project is going to organise a Table-Top Exercise and a webinar on Host Nation Support. Later, a Command Post Exercise features urban-wildland interface and response to remote areas. The project culminates to the Full-Scale Field Exercise to be conducted in the Tyrolean Alps in 2027. The project is co-funded through Union Civil Protection Mechanism (01/2026-12/2027). Through the project activities, the aim is to enhance the ability to execute timely, efficient and targeted response operations independent of the geography of the affected area.