CMDR COE Successfully Conducted 5th Annual Conference Interagency Interaction in Crisis Management and Disaster Response
Date: (01-06-2017)
CMDR COE carried out its 5th Annual Conference Interagency Interaction in Crisis Management and Disaster Response 2017 on June 1-2 in Sofia, Bulgaria. The conference was held under the patronage of the Deputy Prime Minister for Public Order and Security and the Minister of Defense of the Republic of Bulgaria, Mr. Krasimir Karakachanov.
The CMDR Interagency Interaction conference is an annual event which brings together subject matter experts, researchers and educators, planners and developers, advisers and various actors working in the crisis management and disaster response domain in order to promote a lively debate on relevant issues.
This year, more than70 representatives of a total of 14 countries, including Bulgaria, Greece, Poland, China, France, Germany, Italy, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States took part in the event. The CMDR COE was honoured to welcome representatives of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs – OCHA; NATO HQ; SACT HQ; NATO Defence College; NATO COEs (Modelling and Simulation, Energy Security, Military Medical); Hellenic National Defense General Staff; US Agency for International Development - Office of US Foreign Disaster Assistance; 77th Brigade, Force Troops Command, British Army; Bundeswehr Office for Defense Planning; BGR Ministry of Defence; Rakovski National Defence College; the National Military University Vasil Levski; Bulgarian Universities (Sofia university, University for national and World Economy); National Institute of Geophysics, Geodesy and Geography; Bulgarian Academy of Sciences, as well as business and Industry representatives.
The 2017 CMDR COE annual conference was divided in three panels, namely:
- Defence support in disaster response operations;
- Implications of climate change to military activities and M&S support for crisis and disaster management;
- Building societal resiliency and mitigating vulnerability.
The conference opening address was delivered by the Deputy Minister of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria Mr. Atanas Zapryanov. Mr. Zapryanov expressed his satisfaction at the fact that the CMDR COE annual conference has become a successful mechanism for exchanging ideas and recommendations on key issues in crisis management and disaster response, as well as for developing good cooperation between the actors involved in the process. The Deputy Minister of Defence highlighted the role of CMDR COE as a strategic asset for Bulgaria, as well as for the Alliance, adding that the Centre works successfully in close cooperation with NATO and EU structures and contributes to enhancing interoperability through research, analyses, lessons learned and information sharing.
The opening address of the Deputy Minister of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria was followed by the welcome speech of the CMDR COE Director, COL Vassil Roussinov who noted that the aim of the 5th CMDR COE Annual Conference was to bring out organisational or personal experiences of good practices and lessons learned from either national or international institutional arrangements that seek to increase comprehensiveness and cooperation between institutions operating in the context of the crisis management and disaster response.
The keynote speakers at the Interagency Interaction in Crisis Management and Disaster Response conference were RADM US NAVY Pete A. Gumataotao, Deputy Chief of Staff, Strategic Plans and Policy in Supreme Allied Command Transformation (SACT) and FOGO champion; BG Konstantinos Alexopoulos, Director of A6 Directorate (Civil Defence, CIMIC and Civil Emergency Planning) of Hellenic National Defence General Staff and the Chairman of the Coordinating Committee of the Multinational CIMIC Group, and Mr. Jean-Dominique Dulière Head of Crisis Responses and Exercises Section in NATO HQ, Brussels.
The productive work and lively discussions throughout the two-day event have led to achieving the main objectives of the CMDR COE annual conference, including the dissemination of knowledge concerning Lessons Identified/Lessons Learned in disasters relief and humanitarian assistance, consequence management and the ways of mitigation the effects of the natural and manmade calamities, as well as exchanging ideas among the members of the crisis management community of interest, providing opportunity for the researchers to present their work and share experience with other actors in the same field, and sharing data and facilitating cooperation between research institutes and governmental organisations.
News
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On 24-25 October 2018, the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) hosted an important event – the 6th Steering Committee Meeting.
During the meeting on 24 October, the SC members approved the proposed Program of Work 2019 of the Centre as well as the proposed CMDR COE budget estimates for FY-2019.
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The CMDR COE was pleased to hold a productive joint meeting with a delegation from the Romanian Parliamentary Committee for Defence, Public Order and National Security, headed by the Chairperson - Mr. Dorel-Gheorghe CĂPRAR, and with the Chairperson of the Bulgarian Parliamentary Defence Committee - Mr. Konstantin POPOV, with the participation of the Deputy Minister Of Defence of the Republic of Bulgaria - Mr. Atanas ZAPRYANOV.
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The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence was honoured to welcome Brigadier General Tudorica PETRACHE, Commander of South-Eastern Europe Brigade (SEEBRIG) on 28 June 2018.
The official visit of BG Petrache to CMDR COE was conducted as a productive meeting between the distinguished guest and the CMDR COE Command Group, represented by CMDR COE Director Colonel Vassil Roussinov, Deputy Director Colonel Vasileios Palaiologos and Transformation Branch Chief Colonel Dariusz Dobron.
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The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) and the Joint Chemical, Biological, Radiological and Nuclear Defence Centre of Excellence (JCBRN Defence COE) signed a Framework Collaboration Agreement on June 5, 2018.
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CMDR COE conducted the 6th Annual Interagency Interaction in Crisis Management and Disaster Response Conference on June 5-6, 2018.
The CMDR Interagency Interaction Conference is an annual event, which was held on June 5-6 in the Central Military Club, in Sofia, Bulgaria. The Conference brought together subject matter experts and various actors working in the crisis management and disaster response domain. The CMDR COE Annual Conference serves as a platform for information and knowledge exchange and facilitates coordination of actions among key stakeholders, both military and civilian, in the CMDR domain. Each year the event addresses specific issues from the latter domain and gathers experts from across NATO Allied and Partner countries.
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The official visit of BG Huston to CMDR COE was conducted as a productive meeting between the distinguished guest and the CMDR COE Command Group, represented by CMDR COE Director Colonel Vassil Roussinov, Deputy Director Colonel Vasileios Palaiologos and Transformation Branch Chief Colonel Dariusz Dobron.
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The course aim is acquisition of basic knowledge related to disasters as phenomenon, the disaster management process and its close relation to the risk management process, as well as the main players and mechanisms in disaster response.
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The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence is pleased to announce that the 6th Annual Interagency Interaction in Crisis Management and Disaster Response Conference take place on 5 - 6 JUN 2018 in Sofia, Bulgaria and will be broadcast ON-LINE through WebEX. All you need is just to download the application on your mobile device or computer and to write the meeting number 952 555 590
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Col. Dobroń graduated from the Aviation High School as a pilot in 1984. He became an officer in 1988 upon graduating from the Polish Air Defence Military Academy, Missile Engineering Faculty.
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From 24 to 26 January 2018 a NATO Crisis Response System Course for national administration experts was successfully conducted. The course was provided in response to a request for support from the Bulgarian Ministry of Defence.
The course aim was acquisition of basic knowledge to NATO Crisis Response System Elements and their effective application at national level.
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General Kostarakos met with CMDR COE’s Director and Chiefs of Branches as part of his official visit to the Republic of Bulgaria at the invitation of the Bulgarian Chief of Defense Lieutenant General Andrey Botsev.
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On 28 November 2017 the CMDR COE was honored to welcome the Secretary of State, Head of Department of Emergency Situations of the Ministry of Internal Affairs of the Republic of Romania Dr. Raed Arafat.
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The 2017 iteration of Strategic Decision Making for Crisis Response Operations Course was held from 20 November to 24 November in Sofia, Bulgaria.
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The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) conducted its fifth Steering Committee Meeting on October 25-26, 2017.
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Members of the Core Planning Team for the Computer Assisted Exercise (CAX) VIKING 18, led by the Project Manager and Exercise Director MG Anders BRÄNNSTRÖM visited the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) on 19 October 2017. The delegation met with COL Vassil ROUSSINOV, CMDR COE Director, COL Milen MILKOV, Education and Training Branch Chief and LTC Anastasios VASILEIOU - Section Head and Acting Hellenic Armed Forces Seniour National Representative. Present at the event was also a team from Operations and Training Directorate, Bulgarian MOD led by COL Dimcho JECHEV.
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A Montenegro Ministry of Defence Delegation, led by Mrs. Alma Adrovic, Head of the Public Relations Service, visited the Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) on September 27, 2017. The delegation attended a meeting with COL Milen Milkov - Education and Training Branch Chief and LTC Anastasios Vasileiou - Doctrine and Standardisation Section Head.
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The University of Architecture, Civil Engineering, and Geodesy in collaboration with NATO CMDR COE invites all interested specialists to become part of the new MSc Programme and to become qualified experts and consultants in engineering provision of protection against disasters and accidents.
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Within the period of 16-18 May 2017, the Ministry of Defense of the Republic of Bulgaria hosted Main Planning Conference aimed at the organization and arrangement of the exercise implementation phase.
The conference was opened by Deputy Minister Atanas Zapryanov. Almost all Alliance’s Nations took part in it and for the first time this year the EU has participated in the exercise format.
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