From 28 to 29 September 2021 RACVIAC – Centre for Security Cooperation is organising the Workshop “Strengthening Resilience and Capacities of Floods Protection and Response Stakeholders – Good Practices and Development” which entails a working Demonstration Exercise on Lake Rakitje in the vicinity of Zagreb on 29 September 2021.
The event is organised in cooperation with the Croatian Ministry of Interior, Civil Protection Directorate, supported by the DAREnet project partners and expertise of distinguished speakers from their respective countries as well as RACVIAC Members’ experts and authorities dealing with this subject matter.
The purpose of this activity is to present national Subject Matter Experts and their experiences in real life floods prevention and protection systems, and facilitate transfer of knowledge. In addition, the aim is to check operational procedures of all participants in water rescue and flood defense.
Furthermore, the event will focus on the main issues that the South-Eastern European countries are facing in the field of flood protection and response. Special focus will be on the exchange of information regarding the practices, innovation and development of national flood defence systems.
The Opening remarks were given by MG (ret.) Jeronim Bazo, RACVIAC Director and Mr. Damir Trut, Civil Protection Directorate Director.
During his Opening speech, among other things, MG Bazo stressed that this project is a platform for the exchange of knowledge and experiences among flood practitioners in the Danube region and includes all actors in the society: from flood defense competent bodies, civil protection system coordinators, local and regional authorities, members of the academia to industry professionals. He also thanked all for participating in this event and shared his belief that this Workshop/Demonstration Exercise is a great opportunity to exchange views according to the countries’ needs on the national, regional and global level so that we can jointly deal with this important and challenging area of security in close cooperation.
In his Opening remarks the Director of the Civil Protection Directorate, Mr. Damir Trut, PhD, said that floods are becoming more frequent globally and at the national level and as such are recognized as a significant security risk. He also commented on the fight against the great floods and their catastrophic consequences in 2014, which prompted reflection on new solutions for such events. He added that the Civil Protection Directorate has first-hand experience that can be used to identify needs and possible solutions for more effective prevention and response, which will be presented through a workshop and demonstration exercise.
About 50 representatives of RACVIAC Members, Associate Members and participants, the DAREnet project and representatives of the state administration, institutes and associations of the Republic of Croatia are participating in the Workshop.
The demonstration exercise, which will take place at Lake Rakitje tomorrow, September 29, 2021, envisages the rupture of the embankment caused by a large water wave, and aims to check the training and compliance of operational forces and participants in the civil protection system, standard operating actions and procedures, mutual cooperation and coordination, accuracy and speed of transmission of relevant information and the ability to make provisions for people. The exercise will be attended by employees of the Civil Protection Directorate, members of the Croatian Mountain Rescue Service, the Croatian Fire Brigade, the Croatian Institute of Emergency Medicine, the Croatian Red Cross and Rakitje Firefighters’ Association.
