PreparEU final conference highlights commitment for a resilient Europe

The final conference of the preparEU Pilot Project took place in Brussels from 16 -18 September 2025, showcasing coordinated actions to enhance population resilience across the European Union by the project consortium: civil protection authorities from Sweden, Belgium, Spain and Norway, with DG ECHO funding and support through the Knowledge for Action in Prevention & Preparedness call for proposals - KAPP. The event was timely and relevant in the context of the Preparedness Union Strategy.

The preparEU Pilot Project started in February 2024 and since then has explored the potential for a more coordinated and strategic approach to risk awareness and self-preparedness across the European Union. The project focused on five core concepts as a toolkit to help translate strategic objectives into concrete actions: learning programmes for schools, guidance for more inclusive risk communication, a web hub for sharing good examples and risk communication materials, six basics of self-preparedness, and PreparEU Day(s). On these concepts, the project produced recommendations to the EU and to EU Member and Participating States. 

The event was attended by around 100 representatives from 28 Member and Participating States, including some delegates from their Permanent Representations in Brussels, as well as international organisations: UNDRR, OECD, WHO, Red Cross - EU Office; Belgian subnational authorities, NGOs (EU Disability Forum, European Union of the Deaf, Swedish Disability Rights Federation). For the European Commission, representatives from DG ECHO, DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (EAC) and the Competence Centre for Behavioural Insights of the Joint Research Centre (JRC) attended the meeting.

A recorded welcome video message from Commissioner Lahbib was played after the introduction by the hosting Belgian authorities, the National Crisis Centre. The event included various presentations from speakers from different European countries and organisations, followed by discussions on the five concepts.

The concept “6 Basics of Self-Preparedness” was introduced by Norway and followed by an overview of Denmark and Latvia’s approaches, serving as good examples. For this concept, the recommendation from the project consortium to the EU is to promote a universal framework for household preparedness (for instance, stockpiling essentials like food, water and medicine) while allowing national adaptation.

The concept “Learning Programmes for Schools”, presented by Belgium, is about teaching students from an early age about risks and how to be better prepared. It was illustrated with presentations from Belgium, Luxembourg and Estonia, and followed by an intervention from DG Education, Youth, Sport and Culture (EAC) with an update on ongoing initiatives. For this concept, the recommendation for EU action is to promote and integrate risk awareness and preparedness into schools (formal and extracurricular) via curricula or extracurricular activities.

Furthermore, the agenda included sessions on groups at risk, presented by Sweden, and inclusive risk communication, with interventions and good examples from the University of Antwerp, the Red Cross and the European Disability Forum. The consortium and participants agreed on the crucial aspect of engaging groups at risk meaningfully - and from the beginning - in all preparedness efforts, understanding their needs and also counting on their own capacities. It should be considered that we may have invisible disabilities, such as mental health illnesses, and also that in Europe 50 million adults have literacy problems, and even more lack access to digital tools.

The project identified the need for an online centralised repository to share information, tools, guidance, peer learning and strategies related to public risk awareness and risk communication across the EU: a Web Hub for Risk Communication and Preparedness to promote the uptake of successful practices and empower national and local communicators. On this concept, Norway introduced the discussion, followed by presentations from Belgium on the Crisis Communicators’ Network web platform, and from ECHO on the Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network Platform. To ensure impact while managing feasibility, the project recommends enhancing existing tools, such as the Knowledge Network platform.

The concept of a common PreparEU Day(s) was also explored, presented by Spain, followed by Finland and France, which presented their national days on resilience, with elements to learn from.

The event concluded with a presentation on national activities with EU-added value organized in the context of the project: specifically, Sweden is compiling case studies and good practices from Member and Participating States related to designing and distributing preparedness brochures to the whole population; Belgium has produced templates for personal emergency plans and a magnet with important emergency phone numbers; Norway has developed risk information materials tailored to increase risk awareness and preparedness among groups with different disabilities. These initiatives demonstrate that nationally produced risk information material can serve as good examples within the EU, to be shared with other countries.

Finally, ECHO illustrated the key actions of the Population Preparedness chapter of the Preparedness Union Strategy, and the way forward at the EU level.

The relevance of the Commission supporting initiatives from Member States on population preparedness was underlined throughout the conference. Participants strongly emphasised the importance of exchanging good practices and methodological resources between CP authorities, highlighting the need to share materials for specific target groups (children, teenagers, the elderly, immigrants, and people with disabilities), and expressing interest in receiving case studies and examples of good practices from other countries.

Some conclusions of a horizontal nature useful for the next steps on population preparedness: the need to ensure a ‘permanent’ culture of preparedness; the relevance of collaboration with NGOs for risk communication; the crucial element of active involvement of groups at risk from the beginning, to co-create messages and initiatives together; the relevance of non-formal education, learning through experience, and exercises for citizens and schools; and the role of the media in building trust.

The interventions on how to promote preparedness and more coordinated risk communication strategies starting at the EU level are reflected in the presentations from both days, available below.

PreparEU Final Conference - Presentations Day 1

PreparEU Final Conference - Presentations Day 2

Additional preparEU Pilot Project deliverables will soon be available on the project page.