Major Project Proposal

PROtected CAPITal CitiES (PROCAPITES) Community Action Programme in the Field of Civil Protection (2000 – 2004) Grant Agreement n. B4-3080/2003/370059 /SUB/D.3. Final Report on Project May 2006 PROCAPITES Project – Final Report TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS 3 PREFACE 4 THE PROCAPITES PROJECT 7 BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PROJECT 9 PHASE 1 – PREPARATORY 9 PHASE 2 – FIRST WORKSHOP 14 The first workshop 15 PHASE 3 – SECOND WORKSHOP 18 The second workshop 18 FINDINGS 20 ANALYSIS OF QUESTIONNAIRES 21 The “Preliminary” questionnaire 21 The “Legislation” Questionnaire 27 The “Health” Questionnaire 34 The “Psycho-social” Questionnaire 39 The “Scenario” Questionnaire 42 The “Early Warning” Questionnaire 47 CONCLUSIONS 49 PROCAPITES REPRESENTATIVES 52 PROCAPITES PROJECT MEETINGS 53 Helsinki and Tallinn – November 2004 53 International Lesson Learnt: the London bombing – October 2005 56 Meeting in Prague – November 2005 58 Exercise - FIFA World Cup - Berlin, March 2006 59 Visit in Rome of a delegation from Helsinki – June 2006 60 LITERATURE SEARCH 61 ANNEXES 64 Roma – May 2006 2 PROCAPITES Project – Final Report ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS The success of the project depended on the interest and support of a number of organisations, to whom we wish to extend our gratitude, as follows:- Â the European Commission and Municipality of Rome for their financial support and encouragement Â the core group members of the project Â participants from the European capital cities who represented their countries as delegates or speakers at the workshops and for all their work and support throughout the project Â staff of the Municipality of Rome, especially those from the Civil Protection Office, who facilitated the organization of the workshop Roma – May 2006 3 PROCAPITES Project – Final Report PREFACE The PROCAPITES Project The themes of civil protection and emergency response are becoming ever more pertinent to daily life in European countries, especially as our normal activities are sustained by complex transnational networks from which new relationships and new challenges are constantly emerging. For example, in recent months all the capital cities of the European Union have had to re- evaluate their capacity to respond to emergencies and plan for the efficient use of resources when crises occur. During the process of constructing the European civil protection system, the City of Rome has been determined to give its full support to PROCAPITES, a project which, over the last couple of years, has striven to create a network among the European capitals. The project has helped increase our understanding of the role each administration can play in the prevention of disaster and the planning and management of civil protection activities. PROCAPITES has encouraged all the European capital cities to work together and reinforce their mutual relationships in order to strengthen civil protection mechanisms, especially with respect to prevention and preparation activities. The project is an essential development in the process of promoting the civil protection actions of member states at all levels of public administration. The spirit that animates PROCAPITES is one of full-scale collaboration and participation: the excellent cohesion that it has developed means that today the cities of Europe are more united than ever before. Patrizia Cologgi Director of the Extradepartmental Office of Civil Protection Municipality of Rome, Italy Roma – May 2006 4 PROCAPITES Project – Final Report INTRODUCTION The PROCAPITES Project concerns the safety, security and civil protection needs of Europe's capital cities. There are several reasons why these major agglomerations of population are to be considered exceptional places that require special civil protection arrangements:- Â they are large, complex urban areas and are vulnerable to a wide range of hazards Â many are 'primate cities', in the sense that they dominate the cultural and economic life, not only of a large surrounding area, but of their entire nation Â they have dominant and very distinctive administrative and functional roles in the life of their countries Â they are national seats of government and thus contain national parliaments and other sensitive, strategic institutions that require special protection against all kinds of hazards Â they attract key functions, such as head offices of companies, major academic institutions, international bodies and embassies Â they are magnets for urban vulnerability, terrorism, demonstrations, riots, mass gatherings, and potentially for the mass transmission of diseases Â they are major poles of attraction for mass tourism, business travel and migrant workers Despite the obvious distinctness and specific needs of Europe's capital cities, until the arrival of Procapites, they lacked a network for the exchange of civil protection information. Such a network is vital in order to encourage the processes of information exchange, mutual assistance and transfer of expertise and to ensure the proper protection of residents of the cities and visitors to them. Roma – May 2006 5 PROCAPITES Project – Final Report The PROCAPITES Project has been designed to be a highly significant contribution to the processes of creating an appropriate network and a set of mechanisms for sharing information and best practices at the capital city level. The Procapites Family Roma – May 2006 6 PROCAPITES Project – Final Report THE PROCAPITES PROJECT The PROCAPITES PROJECT originated in response to the 2003 Call for Proposals in the field of Community co-operation in the field of Civil Protection (2003/C 188/05), under budget heading B4-3080. More specifically, it responds to Section B (Risks), Paragraph (A), of the Call for Proposals, which asked for methodological projects in the fields of risk assessment and management, particularly with respect to urban areas and chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear (CBRN) threats. The Project Manager developed a project outline, in consultation with team of experts and the Extra- Departmental Office of Civil Protection of the Municipality of Rome. In order to seek support for the project, through funding under the Call for Proposals, the project proposal was submitted to the European Commission. The total funding requested was 416.568,92 euros, of which 291.594,24 euros was sought from the Commission, the 70% of contribution that could be requested. The remaining costs were to be met by the Municipality of Rome. The application was accepted and the grant agreement was received on the 19th of January 2004. The aims of the PROCAPITES Project were as follows: Â to carry out comparative research on the procedures used by each of the capital cities to manage major hazards, emergencies and disasters; Â to compile and encourage the utilisation of an information bank, a manual of best practices and a set of recommended procedures for managing emergencies and mitigating disasters specifically in the context of Europe's capital cities; Â to provide a channel of communication between the civil protection authorities of each capital city; Â to suggest ways of involving both the residents of the capital cities and visitors to them in looking after their own safety. The PROCAPITES Project was led and managed by the Municipality of Rome, not least because the Municipality had already established contacts in the field of civil protection Roma – May 2006 7 PROCAPITES Project – Final Report with other major European capitals. Through the activities of the working group based in Rome, the PROCAPITES project has been extended progressively to a large number of European Capital Cities. In line with the points noted above, the PROCAPITES Project had two major objectives:- Â to share experiences and best practices concerning methodology and procedures between the city councils of all the European capital cities in order to guarantee a high level of protection and safety for citizens of Europe with respect to major hazard events that occur in the principal urban areas; Â to strengthen and promote the process of sharing information among European citizens concerning procedures and methodologies for self-protection and information dissemination in the event of natural, technological or environmental disasters in major urban areas. The PROCAPITES Project was thus intended to furnish high-quality applied research that could immediately be used to improve the general level of civil protection by instituting new procedures and revising existing ones. The Project was intended to assist in harmonising and homogenising emergency response and vulnerability reduction capabilities, largely by facilitating the processes of information exchange and utilisation of best practices. Currently, there is a lack of both of these in European civil protection, and, given their special vulnerability, the shortage is particularly acute with respect to capital cities. Roma – May 2006 8 PROCAPITES Project – Final Report BRIEF HISTORY OF THE PROJECT The PROCAPITES Project became active in March 2004. The project comprised five distinct but linked phases: Â Phase 1 – Preparatory (began in March 2004 and ended in February 2005) Â Phase 2 – First workshop (planning began in February 2005 and ended in June 2005) Â Phase 3 – Evaluation of the first workshop and planning of the second workshop (began in June 2005 and ended in October 2005) Â Phase 4 – Second workshop and its evaluation (the workshop took place on January 2006) Â Phase 5 – Final report (completed by end of April 2006). The proposed timescale was extended as a consequence of some difficulties during the preparatory phase (as explained in Phase 2). It was necessary to continue the preparatory phase until February 2005, so that the workshop phase commenced on the same month. The first workshop was re-scheduled to June 2005, while the second workshop took place on January 2006 and the project was completed by the end of February 2006. Phase 1 – Preparatory The Project working team was supported by the Extradepartmental Office of Civil Protection of the Municipality of Rome, directed by Mrs. Patrizia Cologgi. As a first step it singled out a “core group” chosen from all the experts who were asked to participate in the project.

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