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Strengthening the EU civil protection area: ENSOSP

By Knowledge Network – Staff memberPublished on

Strengthening the EU civil protection area: a strategic dimension for the French National Fire Officers Academy (ENSOSP). ENSOSP’s EU research activities are supporting first responders with knowledge, best practices and innovative technologies to be prepared for the changing risk landscape in which they work.

Solidarity between Member States constitutes the underlying principle of the European civil security policy, with emerging risks having serious impacts on first-responders’ activities and on communities.

Celebrating the 20th anniversary of the EU Civil Protection Mechanism

“The EU Civil Protection Mechanism is a concrete example of EU solidarity in action”.

Commissioner for Crisis Management Janez Lenarčič

In 2020 alone, the mechanism was activated 102 times, illustrating the need to support the development of a strong European civil protection area to share  capacities and knowledge and enhance the operational capabilities of first responders.

Speaking during the event, Commandant Wilfried Stéfic, head of the ENSOSP Research Projects Laboratory, explained that “ENSOSP is committed to making its contribution by strengthening its European-related    activities as a civil security end-user and training center. A restructuring of our Academy took place in 2021 with the creation of a dedicated Research and Innovation Department and the adoption of a Research roadmap identifying research priorities. The need to develop ENSOSP’s participation in EU projects is identified as one of those priorities”.

ENSOSP
© European Union (photo by Pavel Koubek)

Sharing knowledge and best practices through networks of stakeholders

ENSOSP is responsible for knowledge management on civil protection in France (see the Portail National des Ressources et des Savoirs). Building on this expertise, the Academy is now involved in two EU-funded projects with the ambition of becoming EU-wide one-stop shops in their specific areas:

  • FIRE-IN, coordinated by SafeCluster, which aims at improving national and European fire and rescue capabilities and promoting uptake of innovative solutions thanks to the FIRE-IN online platform;
  • AFAN, coordinated by Pau Costa Foundation, which aims at creating a European wildfire expert knowledge-sharing network focused on fire risk analysis and risk reduction.

Enhancing operational capabilities of first responders through innovation

The Academy is committed to finding ways to improve the safety and operational capabilities of those working in crisis management. To achieve this, ENSOSP is partner in two Horizon 2020 projects funded under the Technologies for First Responders call:

  • FASTER is researching innovative technologies to improve the safety and efficiency of First Responders. Coordinated by CERTH, it is in its final year and preparing for a series of demonstrations;
  • The newly begun RESCUER project, coordinated by UPM, aiming at researching and developing a technological toolkit to support First Responders in adverse and infrastructure-less environments.
ENSOSP
L’Ecole nationale supérieure des officiers de sapeurs-pompiers (ENSOSP)

The involvement of ENSOSP in these four high-profile projects will help meet the following objectives of the Academy: improve knowledge management and innovation for first-responders. It also helps to nurture mutually beneficial collaborations with technical developers and research organisations working on civil protection solutions and with other first responders throughout Europe.

More information on ENSOSP’s EU research activities is available on the ENSOSP website.

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