1 INTRODUCTION 2 3 INTRODUCTION "Civil Protection in a Changing Risk Landscape" The European Civil Protection Forum is the largest recurring public event on European cooperation in the field of civil protection. Since 2003, the conference has brought together the European civil protection community to take stock of achievements, share lessons learnt, and put forward new ideas for tackling common challenges. The conference is also an important tool for strengthening cooperation with Europe’s Neighbourhood and other international partners. Hosted by the European Commission in Brussels, over the past fifteen years “the Forum” has been at the heart of the European policy discussion on civil protection and plugged into the international consensus on disaster risk management and resilience. The 2018 edition takes place at a particularly critical time for reflecting collectively on the current and future role of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM), the European framework for cooperation among civil protection authorities. At the end of 2017, the European Commission adopted a new legislative proposal, currently being discussed with the Council and the European Parliament, with a view to strengthen the UCPM by boosting financial support to the existing voluntary pool, by establishing a dedicated reserve of operational capacities at Union level (rescEU) as well as reinforced preparedness and prevention measures. INTRODUCTION 4 The objectives of the European Civil Protection Forum 2018 are to: (i) provide a platform for discussion with stakeholders on pressing policy questions which are likely to shape the future development of the UCPM (ii) serve as a sounding board for new ideas and developments in the sphere of civil protection and disaster risk management, including cooperation at EU level and with neighbouring countries beyond 2020 (iii) facilitate networking, mutual learning and cooperation within the European civil protection community. The Forum consists of four policy pillars that run in parallel. Sessions under each pillar cover the main issues emerging from the recent evaluation of the UCPM’s performance as well as additional analytical work. This year's Forum positions itself as the ideal platform for reflecting on the current and future role of the UCPM at a time when changes in the global risk landscape are already affecting the mandate of civil protection authorities at local, regional, national and European level. Alongside the Forum, an exhibition taking place in the main conference venue will showcase innovative solutions and good practices supported by the UCPM and its Participating States in the field of disaster risk awareness and communication. We wish you a productive European Civil Protection Forum 2018 and we look forward to hearing from you! DG ECHO Civil Protection Forum Organising Team [email protected] 5 INTRODUCTION Conference Venues CHAR BERL GASPERI room (2nd floor) EC Charlemagne Building (CHAR) MANSHOLT room (ground floor) Rue de la Loi 170, Brussels JENKINS room (ground floor) Exhibition (2nd floor atrium) Speakers’ corner (2nd floor atrium) Registration desk (ground floor) EC Berlaymont Building (BERL) SCHUMAN room (ground floor) Rue de la Loi 200, Brussels (2 min walk – across the street from the Charlemagne) AGENDA 6 Agenda at a glance as of February 23 Monday, March 5, 2018 | Charlemagne and Berlaymont Buildings 9.00 - 10.00 Pre-registration of participants and welcome coffee CHAR 10.00 - 12.30 Roundtable with Local Governments GASPERI "Scaling up Disaster Prevention: from Local to European level" Welcome Remarks Johannes Luchner, Director for Emergency Management, Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, European Commission Olgierd Geblewicz, Marshall of the West Pomerania Region, Poland Panel: Adam Banaszak, Vice-President of Kujawsko-Pomorskie Regional Assembly, Poland and Rapporteur of Committee of Regions on 'rescEU' Proposal Luigi D'Angelo, Operational Director for Emergency Coordination, Civil Protection Department, Italy Kathryn Oldham, Chief Resilience Officer, Greater Manchester Combined Authorities (GMCA), United Kingdom Maria João Telhado, Technician of the Municipal Service for the Civil Protection, Municipality of Lisbon, Portugal Sander Happaerts, Policy Analyst, Smart and Sustainable Growth Unit, Directorate General for Regional and Urban Policy, European Commission Leonard Reinard, Head of Regional Development Division, European Investment Bank Moderator: Nacira Boulehouat, Head of Disaster Risk Reduction Unit, Directorate- General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, European Commission 13.00 - 14.15 Registration of participants (light lunch will be served) CHAR 14.30 - 15.30 Welcome GASPERI Monique Pariat, Director-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, European Commission Official Opening and Plenary Session I: 'rescEU', solidarity with responsibility Political leadership perspectives on the European Civil Protection Christos Stylianides, Commissioner for Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Management, European Commission Valentin Radev, Minister of the Interior, Bulgaria Elisabetta Gardini, Member of the European Parliament, Rapporteur of 'rescEU' Proposal for ENVI Committee 7 AGENDA 15.30 - 15.45 GASPERI "Safer Buildings, Stronger Communities" Speaker: Agostino Goretti, Senior Earthquake Engineer, Civil Protection Department, Italy 15.45 - 16.15 Presentation of the 4 Forum Pillars and GASPERI the Exhibition on Disaster Risk Communication and Awareness Speaker: Monique Pariat, Director-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, European Commission 16.15 - 17.00 Coffee Break / Speakers' Corner open CHAR Atrium Speakers: Turgut Erdem Ergin, Associate Professor, University of Rome Tor Vergata, Italy Jean-Paul Monet, Head of Quality Management Division, Bouches-du-Rhône Fire Department, France 17.00 - 18.30 BREAK-OUT SESSIONS MANSHOLT 1. Towards a comprehensive strategy for forest fire preparedness Panel: Antoine Lemasson, Head of the Emergency Response Coordination Centre (ERCC), Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, European Commission Elena Hernandez Paredes, Service Manager at Forest Fire Service, Ministry of Agriculture and Fishery, Food and Environment, Spain Luigi D'Angelo, Operational Director for Emergency Coordination, Civil Protection Department, Italy Neven Szabo, Head of Special Education Centre, National Protection and Rescue Directorate, Croatia Uddholm Lars-Göran, CEO/CFO, Södertörn Fire and Rescue Services Association, Sweden Moderator: Angela Iglesias Rodrigo, Civil Protection and Forest Fires Expert, Directorate General of Civil Protection and Emergencies, Spain SCHUMAN Pillar#2 Simplifying Response 2. Ensuring quality for the European emergency response Panel: Cecilie Daae, Director-General for Civil Protection, Norway Ian Norton, Manager of Global EMT Initiative, World Health Organization (WHO) AGENDA 8 David Alvarez Veloso, Director of Citizen Security and Justice, Union of South American Nations (UNASUR) Winston Chang, Office of the INSARAG Secretariat, Emergency Response Support Branch (ERSB), Coordination Division, Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UNOCHA) Moderator: Cristina Brailescu, Team Leader, Security Union and Response Capacities, Civil Protection Policy Unit, Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations, European Commission GASPERI 3. Transnational cooperation for effective disaster risk management Panel: Angelo Masi, Professor of Structural Engineering, University of Basilicata, Italy Bengt Sundelius, Strategic Adviser to the Director-General, Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency, Sweden Karoly Gombas, Environmental risks Coordinator, EU Strategy for the Danube Region, Hungary Florian Rudolf-Miklau, Head of Torrent and Avalanche Control Department, Federal Ministry for Sustainability and Tourism, Austria Mitja Bricelj, State Secretary, Ministry of the Environment and Spatial Planning, Slovenia Moderator: Paola Albrito, Chief of Regional Office for Europe, United Nations Office for Disaster Risk Reduction (UNISDR) JENKINS 4. Key elements for making international assistance effective Panel: Giovanni de Siervo, Head of International Relations and Activities Unit, Civil Protection Department, Italy Nadejda Chetraru, Head of Analyses, Planning and Coordination Directorate, Emergency Situations Service, Ministry of Internal Affairs, Republic of Moldova Klaus Buchmüller, Head of International Division, German Federal Agency for Technical Relief, Germany Abderrahim Kabbaj, Head of Division of Documentation and IT, Directorate-General for Civil Protection, Kingdom of Morocco Moderator: Dragan Lozančić, Director-General, National Protection and Rescue Directorate, Croatia 9 AGENDA 18.45 - 20.00 Official Opening of the 'Exhibition on Disaster Risk Communication and Awareness' CHAR and Reception Atrium Tuesday, March 6, 2018 | Charlemagne and Berlaymont Buildings 8.00 - 9.00 Registration and welcome coffee CHAR 9.00 - 9.15 GASPERI "Flying above the fire – managing forest fires in Europe" Speaker: Fernando Adrados Morán, Lieutenant Pilot, Spanish Air Force 9.15 – 10.45 Plenary Session II: Working across sectors to increase climate resilience GASPERI Panel: Miguel Arias Cañete, Commissioner for Climate Action and Energy, European Commission Eduardo Cabrita, Minister of Internal Administration, Portugal José Manuel Fernandes,