5. 10. 2023 | POTC, PR
Kliknite tukaj za branje članka v slovenskem jeziku.
The Peace Operations Training Centre (POTC), operating within the Centre for European Perspective, last week held Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT). The intense training took place between 24 and 29 September 2023 at Gotenica Police Training Centre.
The so-called HEATs are well-established trainings organised worldwide by different non-profit and for-profit organisations. For more than 10 years CEP, and now POTC, in close cooperation with Slovenian Police and Slovenian Armed Forces, has been the only provider of HEAT in Slovenia.
The general aim of HEAT is to train individuals to deal effectively with risk-associated and emergency/critical situations while deployed in hostile environments abroad. The latest training was attended by 24 participants; 19 from Slovenia (participants were mostly referred by the three partner institutions: Ministry of Defence, Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and Ministry of Interior of Slovenia) and five participants from abroad. Participants attending either already work in hostile environments or plan to apply for positions that require a certificate of HEAT attendance, such as positions in peacekeeping missions and operations.
The training was a mix of interactive lectures that covered a wide range of topics, among others: how to provide for your own personal security (what is in your grab bag?), how to plan movements and what to do at (il)legal checkpoints (just follow the rules), about radio communication and orientation (GPS does not always work), movement during mass gatherings (don’t panic), surviving kidnap situations (cooperate and gather information), stress management (don’t forget to breathe), improvised explosive devices (if you do not know it, do not touch it!) and basic life support (slow is smooth and smooth is fast).
During the course of training the participants were surprised by a couple of unexpected situations that required their specific reaction. The training culminated in a day-long simulation exercise during which the participants were faced with many stressful situations that required appropriate responses.
We wish all our participants the best of luck in their hostile environments, hopefully, they will never need to apply the knowledge and skills gained at HEAT. To quote one of our lecturers (who quoted Seneca) “Luck is what happens when preparation meets opportunity.”
26. 9. 2023 | Macedonia - Finance, PR, Regional cooperation, Slovenian Development Assistance
We’re always happy to welcome guests at our beautiful castle, and today we were able to host not only one but two delegations working towards the same goal – preparing their countries to join the European Union in the shortest and fastest manner.
Mr Zurab Khamashuridze, Director, Department of European Integration, Ministry of Foreign Affairs, was heading the delegation of the Parliament of Georgia, which is a national coordinating body for all activities related to the process of EU integration. The discussion evolved around CEP experiences with candidate countries and 12 priorities set by the European Commission to be addressed by Georgian authorities before being granted candidate status. Building on good past cooperation on the digital diplomacy program, it was agreed that we can upgrade our relationships and provide concrete support in priorities linked to the rule of law, anti-corruption measures, and involvement of civil society in decision-making processes, to name a few.
State Secretary from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of the Republic of North Macedonia, Mr Filip Toseski, attended bilateral consultations with his Slovenian counterparts and paid a visit to CEP. As this was his first visit to Slovenia, we presented the four pillars that CEP is working on, and we were happy to learn that he has already heard about interesting and useful CEP training courses. Topics of concrete Slovenian support to North Macedonia were discussed, not forgetting to praise the already established good cooperation between the Specialized State Prosecution Office, the Financial Police and the Customs Administration from both countries in the framework of bilateral cooperation on financial investigations supported by Slovenian Aid.
It was agreed that Slovenia has valuable expertise that can be utilised by North Macedonian colleagues to accelerate their way towards full membership of the European Union.
15. 9. 2023 | EUCTI, POTC, PR
Centre for European Perspective has been a member of the European and Security Colleague (ESDC) for several years but has only this week attended its first Executive Academic Board. It took place on Tuesday, 12 September and brought together members of over 70 training institutions. They discussed several important documents, including Academic Programme 2023-2024, received updates on recent activities and events of the ESDC, learned about the European Doctoral School and had an open discussion on the need for the EU Climate Security and Defence Training platform that CEP is also an active member of. As several training institutions were present residentially in Brussels, it gave the CEP director a chance to talk to stakeholders who are highly relevant to CEP’s activities in the field of civilian crisis management.
The next day brought a new meeting in a new format as Nina Cepon and Jelka Klemenc visited the Council of the European Union, Committee on Civilian Aspects of the Missions and Operations (CIVCOM), where they got an opportunity to present activities of the EU Civilian Training Initiative (EUCTI) as well as the developing action proposal, which is planned to start next spring.
CEP has been an active partner of the European Training Community since 2008 and proudly took over a coordination role 2.5 years ago. As the EUCTI project is delivering planned outputs – useful need-based and tailor-made training courses in CSDP mission areas – consultations with the European Commission, CPCC and EEAS designed quite a concrete framework for the new training project. The new consortium will include not only civilian but also police and gendarmerie forces that are jointly aiming at well-prepared experts working in international operations and missions. Several have been sitting jointly around the table, discussing how to cooperate and coordinate better, how to share and pool resources, how to prioritise diverse needs and how to facilitate the EU to play the role of a global actor it aspires to.
Under the auspices of the ESDC, CEP (and in its capacity the Peace Operations Training Centre – POTC) is organising a Comprehensive Protection of Civilians training in Brussels at the beginning of October and planning to deliver Gender Equality and Gender Mainstreaming in Peace Operations and Missions training in April next year.
4. 9. 2023 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR, Young BSF
Ljubljana and Bled, Slovenia, once more hosted young leaders within the activities of the Young Bled Strategic Forum and Bled Strategic Forum. More than 40 young perspective leaders from 25 countries (Albania, Armenia, Austria, Azerbaijan, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Czech Republic, France, Georgia, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Kenya, Latvia, Lithuania, Moldova, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Serbia, Slovakia, Slovenia, Trinidad and Tobago, Ukraine, United States of America) joined forces, experience and creative energy in a three-day training and capacity building organised between Friday 25th of August and Monday 28th of August 2023. The Young BSF strives to empower young leaders from different sectors (academia, civil society, private sector, public administration, and other fields of expertise) to build joint solutions for joint challenges of our societies through transnational cooperation. Young BSF 2023 was organised under the title ´Mitigating our Butterfly Effect´, underlining the power and responsibility of all stakeholders within our societies to make positive changes and contributions in the short and long term. The activities of the Young BSF continued with active participation within the Bled Strategic Forum, organised on Monday, 28th and Tuesday, 29th of August 2023 at Bled, focusing on contributions to ´Solidarity for global Security˙.
Day 1, or the opening day of the Young Bled Strategic Forum 2023, stressed the importance of cooperation and networking to share ideas to solve today’s and tomorrow’s challenges. New knowledge and development of skills will enable us to build a world we want to live in.
The Young participants were addressed by Mr Peter Grk, Secretary General of the Bled Strategic Forum and Ms Nina Čepon, Executive Director of the Centre for European Perspective, who commended the wide participation of young experts from different fields of expertise and countries. The opening discussion set the stage for the work and capacity-building of young leaders.
Day 2 began with a practical session focused on traditional and media literacy. Following was the Pillar I session, which focused on understanding our shared history, noting the role of narratives in our lives and the importance of critical thinking, followed by the Pillar II discussions focused on empowering youth through cooperation with the government, CSOs and various initiatives aimed at supporting and promoting active citizenship. Each pillar consisted of an expert panel followed by a world cafe, where Young BSF participants embarked on a deeper exploration of topics.
The second day concluded on a high note with a conversation with H. E. Ms Tanja Fajon, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign and European Affairs, on the importance of solidarity, current global issues, Slovenia in UN SC, feminist foreign policy and more. “Be curious and brave. Curious, I say, as we live in this polarised world where everything is changing so fast, where we have to think outside the box to adapt,” was Minister Tanja Fajon´s opening call to the Young Bled Strategic Forum participants.
Day 3 of the Young Bled Strategic Forum continued with thematical Pillar III, focusing on the leading question: “How do we address our present actions to secure the future us and for the younger generations?”. The Young Bled Strategic Forum participants transferred from Ljubljana to Bled in the afternoon using a train. The last closing elements of the Young BSF included two capacity-building and inspirational sessions. The Young BSF was closed on Monday, August 28 2023, with presentations of participants’ group work that once more exposed the importance of ideas and work of young leaders that contribute to positive changes within our societies. Their ideas, recommendations and proposals will be joined within the Young Bled Strategic Forum Declaration, which will be published following the event. The Young perspective leaders joined the activities of the Bled Strategic Forum in the following days as panellists and active participants.
Young Bled Strategic Forum and Bled Strategic Forum are honoured for the opportunity to have hosted the first meeting of the CEI Youth Reference Points organised by the CEI Secretariat at Bled, Slovenia, on Tuesday, 29th of August, to exchange best practices, experiences and ideas for youth empowerment within the CEI region. The discussions pave the way for closer cooperation in the field of youth policies and transnational and cross-sector cooperation.
The Young Bled Strategic Forum is supported by the Central European Initiative, the U.S. Embassy in Ljubljana grant, the Konrad Adenauer Stiftung think tank, implemented within the activities of the Slovenian Presidency to the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region and supported as part of the Priority Area 10 Institutional Capacity and Cooperation, an Interreg Danube Region Programme project co-funded by the European Union.
8. 8. 2023 | PR
Oddelek Mir in Varnost se ukvarja z vodenjem nacionalnih in mednarodnih projektov na področju civilnega kriznega upravljanja, v okviru katerih potekajo usposabljanja za strokovnjake, ki so del mednarodnih mirovnih operacij in misij. Naša usposabljanja so osredotočena predvsem na medsektorske teme, kot so vključevanje načela enakosti spolov, digitalna in strateška komunikacija, usposabljanje inštruktorjev, varstvo kulturne dediščine, zaščita civilistov itd.
Tvoje naloge bodo obsegale
- podporo pri pripravi spletnih obrazcev in poročil,
- pisanje prispevkov za spletno stran in družbena omrežja,
- pomoč pri pripravi in izvedbi mednarodnih dogodkov,
- podpora vodji projekta pri načrtovanju in pripravi zahtevnih pisnih izdelkov in koordinaciji.
Iščemo komunikativno, samoiniciativno, motivirano, zagnano osebo z željo po vsakodnevnem učenju vsebin in osvajanju novih veščin. Zaželeno je
- odlično znanje angleškega jezika, vključno s pisanjem zahtevnih besedil (razgovor bo vključeval kratek pisni test znanja),
- napredno znanje dela s programi MS Office,
- poznavanje družbenih omrežij.
Ker smo locirani na obrobju Ljubljane na gradu Jable, je zaželeno, da se do nas lahko pripelješ z lastnim prevozom.
Prednost bodo imeli študentke/i 2. stopnje ali absolventke/i študija mednarodnih odnosov, evropskih študij, obramboslovja, varnostnih ved in podobnih smeri s predhodnimi izkušnjami
- s poznavanjem WordPressa,
- s koordinacijo in pisanjem vsebinskih prispevkov za namene priprave projektnih aktivnosti,
- z delom v mednarodnem okolju,
- s specifikami izvedbe EU ali mednarodnih projektov z več deležniki,
- in poznavanjem struktur in politik EU na področju zunanjega upravljanja EU in varnosti.
Postani del mladega in zagnanega kolektiva, kjer nudimo zanimivo, raznoliko in fleksibilno delo, odprto izmenjavo mnenj, priložnosti za učenje ter udejstvovanje v mednarodnem okolju. Nudimo možnost dolgoročnega sodelovanja.
Če te predstavljeno delo zanima in se vidiš v naši ekipi, na elektronski naslov [email protected] pošlji svoj življenjepis in kratko motivacijsko pismo, v katerem nam poveš, zakaj si želiš delati pri nas.
Rok za prijavo je 21. 8. 2023. Upoštevane bodo vse prijave, ki bodo pravočasno prispele na zgoraj navedeni naslov.
