HEAT 2023 – 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.”
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4. 7. 2023 | EUSAIR, PR, Regional cooperation, Strategic Communication
EUSAIR Communication Academy 2.0
(5-6 July 2023)
This week a second edition of EUSAIR Communication Academy will be taking place in Thessaloniki in Greece.
The training is a continuation of EUSAIR Communication Academy, a three-part capacity-building program that took place in 2022. Whereby the first edition focused on the tools and techniques needed for effective digital communication, EUSAIR Communication Academy 2.0 will focus on explaining complex and abstract issues in a simple, comprehensible, and persuasive way. The participants will gain the critical skills and tools to support them in effectively communicating EUSAIR to the stakeholders and interested public. Participants attending the EUSAIR Communication Academy are EUSAIR key implementers, government communicators, and journalists.
During a two-day programme 30 participants from EUSAIR countries will attend communication workshops on the topics of simplifying messages and simplifying language, leveraging AI tools for communication purposes as well as effective communication with the media. The theory will be applied to practical tasks conntected to EUSAIR and its communication, such as developing EUSAIR key messages and writing press releases.
The official programme of the EUSAIR Communication Academy will be combined with a rich informal programme aiming to foster an environment for experience sharing among diverse participants.
5. 5. 2023 | Bled Strategic Forum, Young BSF
YOUNG BSF 2023 – Mitigating our Butterfly Effect
The Bled Strategic Framework is excited to announce the 12th edition of the Young Bled Strategic Forum, an interactive platform, capacity building and global network of young professionals that will be held late this summer from 25 August to 28 August 2023 at Ljubljana and Bled, Slovenia. The Young BSF encourages and supports the participation of young leaders, entrepreneurs, influencers, thinkers and social activists aged from 18 to 35 who will once more join forces, their creativity and ingenuity to discuss and actively propose solutions to the salient challenges and opportunities within our societies.
Young BSF 2023 was inspired by the work of Edward Norton Lorenz, who in his article ´Deterministic Nonperiodic Flow´ explained his discoveries which became known as “The Law of Sensitive Dependence on Initial Conditions”, also referred to as the butterfly effect. His mathematical discoveries were coined in the metaphor: “When a butterfly flutters its wings in one part of the world, it can eventually cause a hurricane in another”, and soon became an important reference in multiple fields. Applying the concept to our globalised and connected world associated through economic value chains, digital means and other networks, flutters in one part are truly felt on the other side of the globe. Our shared experience of the economic crisis, ecological devastation, wars and displacement, but also of pandemics such as Covid-19, further demonstrates how united our communities are, and teaches us important lessons in humility, solidarity and resilience-building. The title of the Young BSF 2023 – Mitigating our Butterfly Effect reflects the importance of actions by all stakeholders within our societies that carry a shared honour and duty to make decisive and responsible decisions in the long and short term, with effects on the local, national and global level.
Young participants will be engaged in capacity building and consultations, and cooperate in interactive workshops, round table discussions and other structured activities prepared in cooperation with expert speakers, partner organisations, non-governmental organisations and other stakeholders. Young BSF 2023 will consist of online preparatory activities and the main event organised live at Ljubljana and Bled, followed by active participation of Young BSF participants within the Bled Strategic Forum organised from 28 August to 29 August 2023 at Bled, Slovenia. Interested participants can apply to the Young BSF by Friday May 25th 2023.
Who can apply?
- Field of profession: Accepting all students and young Accademia representatives, young employed professionals, NGO representatives and civil society members (active citizens on the local, national and international level), young members of public administration and governmental institutions, members of international organisations, social entrepreneurs, representatives of private sector and commerce and all other inspiring young future leaders.
- Age: Accepting applicants aged 18 to 35 years
- Geographical scope: The region, EU and globally (with accommodation and sustenance during the Young BSF and BSF for all selected participants, and travel grants discussed on each participant separately to allow equal opportunities for participation depending on available resources)
Ensuring equal opportunities to attend the Forum is of the utmost importance, enabling the participation of talented, inspiring individuals, regardless of their social background and ability to pay. The organisers are working closely with partners to provide all participants with accommodation, while a number of travel grants for candidates from various backgrounds and nationalities will be ensured. These grants may be awarded to selected participants on a case-by-case basis and only up to the amount assigned by the organisers, who will also ensure equal regional and expert representation.
The Young Bled Strategic Forum is co-organised by the Centre for European Perspective and the Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs of the Republic of Slovenia. The programme activities are supported and organised in partnership withthe Interreg Danube Region Programme project co-funded by the European Union, the European Union Strategy for the Danube Region (EUSDR) Priority Area 10 ´Institutional Capacity and Cooperation´ and the Central European Initiative.
For additional information regarding the programme activities, possibilities of cooperation and eligibility of travel costs please contact Mr Jernej Grahor, BSF Project Manager (responsible for Young Bled Strategic Forum) at [email protected] .
5. 5. 2023 | Bled Strategic Forum, PR
The 18th Bled Strategic Forum international conference will take place between 28 and 29 August 2023 under the title ‘Solidarity for global security’.
Contemporary global uncertainty and insecurity are a product of multiple interconnected and interdepended crises. Ours is the age of polycrisis. From climate, food, and energy to the governance crisis, they all affect our security. These mutually reinforcing global crises require common responses based on solidarity. Alone and each for ourselves, we cannot find adequate solutions to ensure global security.
#BSF2023 will explore different ways of ensuring global security by working together.
As per its mission, BSF 2023 will bring together a diverse set of participants, including heads of state and government, ministers, diplomats, businesspeople, scholars and experts, youth, and media from around the world. It will provide a platform for participants to openly discuss and contrast opinions and seek solutions for contemporary regional and global challenges
Additionally, the Forum will provide an excellent opportunity for tailored bilateral and multilateral meetings and networking with prominent regional and global actors from the spheres of diplomacy, policy, business, science, and innovation.
Prior to the BSF, Young BSF will take place between 25 and 27 August in Ljubljana, Slovenia.
For more information visit the Bled Strategic Forum website.
