Between 11-14 February 2025, the project teams of the two French advanced partners, the General Directorate for Civil Protection and Crisis Management of the French Ministry of Interior (DGSCGC) and Nimes Metropole, visited Cyprus for the scheduled 6th Hands-on Training Short Course. The two project teams were supported by Lt. Colonel Vaucouleur, an expert civil protection and firefighting trainer from ENTENTE-VALABRE, the national organisation for research, training, innovation and certification in Civil Protection of France.
The training was placed under the auspices of the Honourable Minister of Interior of the Republic of Cyprus, Mr. Constantinos Ioannou, and it was hosted by the project’s co-coordinating organisation European University Cyprus – CERIDES at the premises the University in Nicosia.
With the invaluable help of the project team of EUC-CERIDES who managed the communication and dissemination actions of the training in Cyprus, the event achieved to attract an impressive array of participants during its two-day duration, giving the knowledge exchange efforts a regional character.
The forty participants included:
- Representatives from all the responsible Cypriot authorities in Civil Protection, firefighting, aerial means and search and rescue, namely the Cyprus Fire Service, the Department of Forests, the Cypriot Civil Defence, the Ministry of Defence and the Airforce Command of the National Guard, the General Directorate of Environment of the Ministry of Agriculture Rural Development and Environment, the Cyprus Police Aerial Operations Unit and the Joint Rescue Coordination Centre of the Republic of Cyprus.
- Two representatives from the Fire Service of the British Sovereign Bases in Cyprus
- Two Canadair pilots from the Hellenic Air Force
- Senior officers from the Jordanian Civil Defence Directorate
- Representatives from the French Embassy in Cyprus
The technical workshop was focused on Aerial Firefighting Means and Wildfire Management and its objectives included:
➢ Sharing of knowledge, experience and good practices in wildfire management strategy
➢ Table-top training on wildfire management, agency interoperability, use of fire retardant, prescribed burning, tactical fires, flight safety, use of helicopters and aerial watch good practices.
➢ Presentations in Civil Protection management in national, regional, departmental and local level in France.
➢ Analysis of specific fire events with open discussion and contribution from the participants.
➢ Exchange of national wildfire and civil protection approach, policies and strategies between French, Cypriot, Greek, Jordanian and SBA representatives.
During the 1st day of the training event, the project teams of EUC-CERIDES, DGSCGC and Nimes Metropole, presented their work and approach in Civil Protection matters, as well as the national and local approaches and actions from Cyprus and France. An introduction in the hands-on training in Aerial Firefighting means and Wildfire management was given by Lt. Colonel Vaucouleur from ENTENTE-VALABRE during the afternoon session of the training. The trainers from France organised an interactive case study workshop, capitalising also on the “Pyropolis” table-top serious-game elaborated by EUC-CERIDES during the 4th and 6th Staff Exchange Twinning Visits by Wageningen University & Research and Pau Costa Foundation in April 2024. All the above led to a valuable exchange between the participants and the trainers in regards to the different firefighting strategies followed during a specific wildfire example.
During the 2nd day of the training, the organisers from DGSCGC and Nimes Metropole, under the guidance and support of the expert trainer from ENTENTE-VALABRE, provided the participants with key information, policy details, strategy components and operational guidelines in aerial firefighting, land management, use of fire retardant in wildfires, co-ordination of aerial means, flight safety and the use of innovative tools in resource management and mission coordination in France.
The training’s success sparked discussions between the participants and the French advanced partners for future events, new research projects, international training collaboration and subsequently the organisation of the upcoming SEMEDFIRE field exercise in the Nimes Grand Provence Airport and the Civil Security Aerial Base in Nimes. As per the project’s work plan, French Advanced partners are required to organise a field exercise and training event in Nimes, France, engaging in knowledge and good practices exchange with the project’s coordinator EUC-CERIDES.
The French Advanced partners have engaged in significant efforts to secure the collaboration, participation, support and guidance of French key actors in wildfire management and civil protection, in the four exchange actions scheduled for Work Package 6.
The result of these efforts are:
- exclusive visits of the EUC-CERIDES project team at the French Ministry of Interior, the Inter-ministerial Operational Centre for Crisis Management (COGIC), the Inter-ministerial Crisis Management Centre (CIC), the Headquarters of the French Directorate of Civil Security and Crisis management in Paris.
- visits at the National Training School of Firefighters – ENSOSP and ENTENTE-VALABRE in Aix-en-Provence
- visits at the huB.46 Civil Protection Hub and the French Civil Security Aerial Base (video) in Nimes
- the participation of academics and expert trainers during the exchange visits and training events in Cyprus in December 2024 and February 2025
The goal is the enhancement and the scaling-up of the SEMEDFIRE actions and the collaboration between Cyprus and France, within the project’s outline and high-level aim to establish a regional centre for the advancement of disaster prevention and management with a focus on wildfires.
Media groups from the Occitanie region and the Department of Gard in France have published relevant articles for the presence of French Partners and more specifically, Nimes Metropole, in Cyprus during the training visit. Articles from Midi Libre and Objectif Gard media groups can be found here: 1. Midi Libre – 2. Objectif Gard
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