Outstanding upshots gained from the CMDR COE’s Annual Seminar
Date: (04-07-2014)
CMDR COE has successfully hosted its 2nd Annual Seminar, which is designed to facilitate meeting of experts and sharing of experience among bodies dealing with crisis and disaster response. The event took place from 1st to 3rd July, 2014 in Sofia.
Interagency interaction in crisis management and disaster response was the main topic of the seminar. "...If we are united and share our common experiences we will be ready to tackle the different and sometimes unexpected crises and disasters. Crucial for this is the interagency cooperation..." pointed out Rear Admiral Petev in his opening speech.
As a key note speaker, the Deputy Minister of Defence Mr. Ivan Ivanov said that he has a particular interest in crisis management and disaster response because he has been committed by the Ministry of Defence for the construction and operation of the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence. In his lecture he emphasized on three aspects. The first aspect is related to the foundations of the policies and practice of crisis management. The second aspect is: Why crisis management and disaster response and why this problem area is so important? And the third point is: What should be the response to a crisis?
More than 120 representatives from 16 countries and more than 20 organizations participated in the event as it shows the importance of the seminar subject on international level. This annual event, second in a row, enables SMEs from NATO and Partner nations to share their views and thoughts in perspectives on cooperation and collaboration issues of common interest. The CMDR COE intent is to facilitate the exchange of ideas regarding transformation throughout the trans-Atlantic community by creating a common understanding in the sphere of crisis management and disaster response. Lectures and presentations were held in a very caring and friendly atmosphere.
"...We need to identify and learn lessons. We need to collect and share expertise and experience. We need to determine the best practices and to focus our efforts in their effective implementation in order to reduce negative consequences of such kind of challenges. This is the main goal of the CMDR COE and the main purpose of this seminar", mentioned colonel Roussinov, CMDR COE Director in his closing remarks.
CMDR COE would like to express sincere thanks for the significant contributions of all participants toward the success of the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Interagency Interaction Seminar.
News
The Final Planning Conference of the exercise Saber Guardian 14 has finished successfullyThe Final Planning Conference of the exercise Saber Guardian 14 was held in Sofia last week (3-7 Feb 2014). The CMDR COE experts headed by LtC Orlin Nikolov, head of Capabilities Branch, participated in the workshops of the Contingency Management Planning/Unified Action (CPM/UA) syndicate.
On February 5, 2015, the CPM/UA members met with representatives of several GOs and NGOs. The meeting was arranged by the CMDR COE and co-hosted with the J9 USEUCOM as there were entities as Bulgarian Ministry of Interior, Chief Directorate Fire Safety and Civil Protection, State Agency of National Security, State Agency for Refugees, Bulgarian Academy of Science, Military Medical Academy, Red Cross, Caritas Bulgaria, Gender Research Foundation, Tennessee National Guard, Bulgarian Modeling and Simulation Association (BULSIM). The purpose of the meeting was to present them the scenario and storyline of their engagement into the exercise.
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The exercise is held under the auspices of the Ministers of Defence of the SEE Nations.
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CMDR COE FEBRUARY Forthcoming events- In 3-7 of February experts from the CMDR COE team will take part in the Final Planning Conference of the SABER GUARDIAN ′14 Exercise, organized by the US EUCOM and BGR LANDFORCE.
The purpose of the exercise is to train and educate civilian and military participants in planning and conducting an UN mandated Chapter VII Peace Operation/Crisis Response Operation, based on a Comprehensive Approach, and focusing on co-operation and co-ordination within an unstable environment, involving all stakeholders. The principal exercise focus is the civilian-military cooperation and coordination. The scenario supports exercising a wide range of peace operations functions (e.g. rule of law, humanitarian, etc.). The CMDR COE will contribute to achieving the exercise objectives by providing subject matter expert support in the CMDR area and by organizing distributed point for White cell.
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Visualizing Implications of Climate Change on Military Activities and Relationships was conductedOn 11-12 December 2013, the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) co-hosted together with US European Command (USEUCOM) and the US embassy in Bulgaria the workshop Visualizing Implications of Climate Change on Military Activities and Relationships. The opening remarks were given by the Deputy Minister of Defence of Bulgaria, Mr. Ivan Ivanov, who welcomed the participants and underlined the importance of the topics that the workshop focused on.
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