Centre for European Perspective (CEP) together with the Peace Operations Training Centre (POTC) presents
Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT) 2022: Aftermovie.
Take a look at what 18 participants from different police and gendarmerie institutions across Europe have been up to during our HEAT course in Gotenica, Slovenia. Green forests and pristine nature provided an almost idylic backdrop for both theoretical and practical exercises where the trainees under a professional expert guidance honed their skills in orienteering, evacuation planing, 4×4 driving, negotiating, stress management and so much more.
Peace Operations Training Centre (POTC), in collaboration with the Slovenian Ministry of Defence, will organize a refresher course for civil experts on the topic of Stabilisation and Reconstruction at Grad Jable on Friday, October 21st.
The goal of the course is to review and upgrade the knowledge of civilian experts on civil-military cooperation.
The whole-day course will cover diverse topics, including but not limited to:
familiarisation with the changed international situation;
the current work of Slovenian personnel on international missions and operations (MOM);
Slovenia’s vision in regard to participation in international missions and operations (MOM)
the basic working principles of international missions and operations (MOM) such as cooperation with representatives of different cultures, technical knowledge, personal safety, etc.
In the course, 6 civilian experts will share their knowledge from recent mission experience, followed by a debate and a Q&A section.
From the 18th to the 23rd of September 2022, 18 participants from 10 countries participated in the Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT) in the Police Training Centre of Gotenica in the lush forests of southern Slovenia.
The activities were carried out by the Centre for European Perspective (CEP), with support from the Slovenian Police and the Slovenian Armed Forces. The training was organised under the auspices of the projects Peace Operations Training Centre (POTC) and the European Union Police and Civilian Services Training (EUPCST).
This year’s HEAT was an intensive 5-day course that aimed to train professionals on how to effectively deal with risks-associated and emergency/critical situations while deployed in hostile environments abroad.
The courses in Gotenica were a unique opportunity for participants to:
improve their knowledge about multiple threats present in hostile field environments and learn how to deal with them effectively;
rehearse and practice safety and security procedures accordingly with a specific threat;
strengthen individual skills in dealing with different stressful situations;
and strengthen group dynamics while dealing with multiple stressful situations.
The courses culminated in a complex multi-stage one-day simulation where the participants put their acquired knowledge and newfound skills to the test. The simulation even included some unforeseen events that surprised the participants and gave them an invaluable learning experience in a high-pressure environment.
This year’s HEAT included participants from diverse governmental institutions from 10 European countries: Cyprus, Estonia, France, Hungary, Netherlands, Portugal, Romania, Slovenia, Spain, and the United Kingdom. Activities, sharing of best practices, workshops and practical exercises facilitated by experts from the Slovenian Police, Slovenian Armed Forces, a psychologist and other experts contributed to a multidisciplinary approach to the challenges that individuals and institutions might face when deployed in a potentially hostile environment. The participants all successfully and enthusiastically finished the course, expressing their satisfaction over the new knowledge, techniques and experience that will, if needed, prove to be beneficial to their current or future work postings.
The POTC team brought the second set of 4-day workshops for 19 local representatives from 6 municipalities around Prijedor to an end. As the end of the second module was also the end of the Workshop on EU Project Proposal Writing, the participants were awarded Certificates of participation. Local participants are now equipped and familiarised with the following topics:
The Centre for European Perspective and the Slovenian Peace Operations Training Centre (POTC) are with the support of the European Police and Civilian Services Training organizing a Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT). The course will take place at Gotenica Police Training Centre in Slovenia from Sunday 18th to Friday 23rd September 2022.
The objective of the Hostile Environment Awareness Training is to train professionals to deal effectively with risk-associated and emergency/critical situations while deployed in hostile environments abroad.
TARGET GROUP
Up to 20 professionals with different backgrounds, working or aiming to work with national or international (non)governmental organizations, academic or private sector will join an experienced group of Slovenian and foreign trainers for this five-day intensive course in the southwestern part of Slovenia. The training is expected to align participants’ understanding of the minimum required behavioral field requirements when confronted as an individual or a team member staff of an international field operation whatever his/her professional background could be.
The course is designed to:
improve participants’ knowledge about multiple threats present in hostile field environments and learn how to deal with them in an effective manner
rehearse and practice safety and security procedures accordingly to the specific threat
develop skills and behaviors to deal with different stressful situations
trigger group dynamics when dealing with multiple stressful situations
TRAINING METHODOLOGY
Training is composed of five modules, each focusing on an important aspect of mission life in a hostile environment. Activities include lectures, guided discussions, role plays, simulations, and a complex field training exercise. Trainees will be talking about the deployment in hostile environments (threat awareness, management of various threats, etc.), medical help, orientation, communications, and off-road vehicle driving. Additionally, two modules will be dedicated to practicing newly gained skills.
Between the 12th and 15th of May 2022, the Peace Operations Training Centre (POTC) will deliver the second module on EU project management in Prijedor, Bosnia and Herzegovina. Improved capacities for project proposal preparation will help Bosnia and Herzegovina to work more closely with EU partners and secure more EU funding for BiH’s development.
23 local government officials and NGO representatives from municipalities surrounding Prijedor participated in a four-day training program delivered by Slovenian experts Gorazd Jenko and Slavka Zupan in June. Now, the same participants will attend the second 4-day module where they will further develop their project proposals.
The project was carried out with the support of the Slovenian Ministry of Defence and the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign Affairs.
