From 3 to 4 November 2026, PPRD East 4 will join the 9th European Civil Protection Forum in Brussels, bringing interactive simulations and innovative training tools to the Serious Games Corner. Visitors will explore how artificial intelligence, hands-on exercises and science-based scenarios can support risk awareness, operational decision-making and disaster preparedness.
Under the theme “Preparing today, ready for tomorrow”, the European Civil Protection Forum 2026 will bring together civil protection authorities, practitioners, researchers and other stakeholders to exchange knowledge and strengthen European cooperation.
PPRD East 4 will contribute to this exchange through the Serious Games Corner, an interactive space where visitors can experience how simulation-based learning supports civil protection preparedness.
The programme will showcase two complementary approaches to exercise-based training: an AI-supported Tabletop Exercise (TTX) simulator and a hands-on simulation activity using building blocks .
Visitors will also have the opportunity to explore a science-based wildfire game , focused on risk awareness and emergency decision-making.
The agentic AI-based TTX simulator explores how artificial intelligence can support the design, conduct and evaluation of civil protection exercises.
The tool is designed to help exercise organisers to create and manage dynamic emergency scenarios, while allowing players to follow scenario developments and explore operational challenges, coordination needs and response decisions.
The aim is to make exercise-based training more adaptable and responsive to changing situations, while keeping human decision-making and exercise management at the centre.
Alongside this digital approach, PPRD East 4 will present a parallel hands-on simulation using building blocks to represent information within an emergency scenario.
Using colours, shapes and sizes to distinguish geographical areas, affected populations, operational needs and available resources, participants can build a shared picture of the situation, assess priorities and discuss response options.
The activity demonstrates how simple visual tools can support information management, teamwork and decision-making during civil protection exercises.
Visitors will also be able to test a wildfire decision-making game based on the PROPAGATOR wildfire simulation model showcasing how real Civil Protection tools can be used to mainstream risk awareness in interactive awareness raising actions.
The game connects scientific risk modelling with practical decision-making, making the consequences of different response strategies easier to understand.
For PPRD East 4, participation in the Forum is closely connected to the programme's wider work on civil protection exercises and operational preparedness in the project countries, supporting the development of skills and methods needed to plan, conduct and evaluate exercises, including the forthcoming national Tabletop and Full-Scale Exercise cycles.
The tools presented in Brussels illustrate different ways to strengthen this process: using scientific models to understand risks, interactive simulations to explore operational decisions, and practical exercises to support coordination and learning.
By sharing these approaches with the European civil protection community, PPRD East 4 aims to contribute to the exchange of innovative training methods and stronger cooperation with the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM).