This autumn, POTC is organising its UN-certified Comprehensive Protection of Civilians (CPoC) Training. The training will be held at Jable Castle, Mengeš, from 6 – 10 October.
The Comprehensive Protection of Civilians (CPoC) Training focuses on the protection of civilians (PoC) by addressing the responsibilities of states, international organisations, and other actors to safeguard individuals, particularly non-combatants, from harm during armed conflicts, natural disasters, and other forms of violence. PoC includes shielding individuals from physical violence, forced displacement, sexual violence, and denial of essential resources and services. The principles of PoC are rooted in international humanitarian and human rights laws and are vital for upholding human dignity during conflicts and crises.
The training is primarily designed for police and civilian personnel, including decision-makers, members of non-governmental organisations and individual civilian experts, who are to be deployed to international missions and operations or who are working in civilian crisis management, with no prior knowledge or skills in preventing or responding to violence against civilians. The working language of the training is English, and participants are expected to be fluent in English (C1 level or higher).
The aim of the training is for the participants to understand the conceptual, legal and operational framework in protection of civilians, and to provide the participants with understanding of PoC practice in UN (and EU) missions and operations, effective tools used in practice, skills and knowledge for working in missions with a PoC mandate, understanding of the basic legal framework and documents, understanding the connection between climate change and security and an understanding of UN, EU and NATO operational concepts for PoC.
The residential part of the course will take place between 6 and 10 October 2025 at Jable Castle in Loka pri Mengšu, Slovenia. Participants will also have to complete the mandatory e-learning modules prior to arriving in Slovenia. Attendance is free of charge for all selected participants. The POTC will also cover: – local transport costs between the airport and the hotel; – local transport between the hotel and the course venue; – lunch, beverages and other refreshments provided during the training course at Jable Castle; – additional financial support is available for up to 10 international participants – see more in the information pack.
More information can be found in the Information Pack. A tentative course programme will be made available a few weeks prior to the training activity.
Participants can apply to the course through the registration form via this link.
The selected participants will be notified roughly a week after the application deadline.
For any additional questions, feel free to send us a message at: [email protected]
Follow us on social media for more POTC news and content:
On 18 December 2024, we gathered in Belgrade to mark the conclusion of the project ‘Chapter 24 – Strengthening Patrol Management in Serbia’. The project that began in 2019 with the goal of enhancing patrol management capacities in the Republic of Serbia built upon excellent cooperation between the Ministry of Interior of Serbia, Ministry of Interior of Slovenia and Slovenian Police. The project activities empowered over 500 Serbian police officers in the usage of the patrol management system over the last 5 years.
The participants of the concluding event noted that the good cooperation between both sides enabled a safer working environment for the Serbian police while also providing better service to the citizens.
We thank all our partners, especially the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs, the Ministry of Interior of Slovenia and the Slovenian Police, for their support; we also thank the Serbian Ministry of Interior (MUP RS) and the Slovenian Embassy in Serbia for the support and organisation of the final event.
Activities are part of Slovenian development cooperation, financed by the Slovenian Ministry of Foreign and European Affairs and implemented in cooperation with the Ministry of Interior of Slovenia and the Slovenian police.
On the 30th of November, the last training of 2023, the Disruptive Military Practices & Technologies Training, was held at POTC’s home base – Jable Castle, for a group of dedicated participants, mainly coming from the Slovenian Armed Forces and the Ministry of Defence.
The aim of the training was to address the emergence of new technologies and practices in the security and defence field, which have the potential to disrupt. More concretely, the sessions focused on the following subjects:
Space Weather: insights into the influence of space weather on critical infrastructure;
Space Technologies and their Applications: the latest developments in space technologies and their practical applications in the defence sector;
EU Technological Sovereignty: addressing the crucial topic of maintaining technological sovereignty within the European Union;
The Disruptive Potential of AI in the Field of Security: understanding the transformative power of Artificial Intelligence and its impact on national and international security.
The participants of the training had the chance to hear about and discuss important topics with leading lecturers whose insights were invaluable. The training was not short on new and emerging concepts and terms such as digital twins, rare earth mineral dependence, space storms, satellite flood mapping, failure prediction and information warfare.
With this, POTC’s training activities for 2023 have been concluded. We are more than pleased to have facilitated a wide array of training activities this year and are excited about what is coming in 2024.
For more information about the training and more, you can follow us on social media:
The Centre for European Perspective will implement a three-day training on Digital Communications in Civilian Crisis Management as a part of the European Union Civilian Training Initiative (EUCTI), which provides tailor-made training activities for individuals working in the EU’s CSDP and other international missions (OSCE, UN, AU and others). The training is designed to increase the awareness of mission communication experts on the efficient use of information technology to enhance missions’ communication performance.
To effectively communicate in a strategic manner, solely acquiring technological hardware and software is not enough. Missions need to recalibrate their communication efforts and address the question of “why to communicate” in greater detail, develop communication strategies based on their findings and make necessary organisational shifts, which ultimately lead to increased support of the domestic and foreign public towards the mission. Thus, the course aims to strengthen the overall performance of missions’ communication efforts, which enhance the mission’s legitimacy.
The upcoming training addresses the needs of EUMM Georgia with participation extended to experts serving in other international missions and organisations in Georgia. Due to Covid-19 related restrictions, the course has been designed in a two-module structure. The upcoming training, which will be held online between 16th and 18th November 2021 represents the first training module and will provide the participants with fundamental theoretical knowledge. The procured knowledge will provide participants with the basis to successfully participate in the training’s second module, which is more practically oriented.
[Webinar]: Radicalization and Violent Extremism Across Borders: An Ongoing Threat
The persistent threat of radicalization and violent extremism is highlighting the vulnerability of our societies today to the challenges of intolerance, hatred and fear. Radicalization is a reflection of societal polarization, as well as a reflection of deep and rapid changes of perceptions, values and behaviour, where violence is becoming an acceptable tool for solving conflicts.
The Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia, the Politics and Society Institute in Jordan and the Centre for European Perspective in Slovenia have joined together in order to open up a discussion on the threat of radicalization and violent extremism in Slovenia, Kosovo and Jordan and their wider regions.
The experts aimed to:
• Underline potential similarities, differences and connections between violent extremism in these countries and their respective regions;
• Address how to reduce the risk of individual indoctrination to violent extremism and radicalization; and
• Proposed ideas on how to deal with these challenges.
Missed our event? Watch it here:
SPEAKERS 🗣️:
◾ Dr Mohammad Abu Rumman, Politics and Society Institute, Associate Expert and Writer on Political Islam and Violent Extremism
◾ Dr Florian Qehaja, Kosovar Center for Security Studies, Chair of the Board
◾ Dr Iztok Prezelj, Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia, President & Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Vice-Dean
🔹 Moderated by Katja Geršak, Centre for European Perspective, Executive Director
For more about the event, follow CEP on Facebook and Twitter, you are also invited to follow the Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia on Facebook and the Politics and Society Institute on Facebook and Twitter.
The Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia, the Politics and Society Institute in Jordan and the Centre for European Perspective in Slovenia are jointly organizing a webinar titled:
Radicalization and Violent Extremism Across Borders: An Ongoing Threat
The persistent threat of radicalization and violent extremism is highlighting the vulnerability of our societies today to the challenges of intolerance, hatred and fear. Radicalization is a reflection of societal polarization, as well as a reflection of deep and rapid changes of perceptions, values and behaviour, where violence is becoming an acceptable tool for solving conflicts.
How is this phenomenon going to impact our society?
Join our panel of experts in a webinar to:
Discuss the threat of radicalization and violent extremism in Slovenia, Kosovo and Jordan and their wider regions;
Underline potential similarities, differences and connections between violent extremism in these countries and their respective regions;
Address how to reduce the risk of individual indoctrination to violent extremism and radicalization; and
Propose ideas on how to deal with these challenges.
Speakers:
Dr Mohammad Abu Rumman, Politics and Society Institute, Associate Expert and Writer on Political Islam and Violent Extremism
Dr Florian Qehaja, Kosovar Center for Security Studies, Chair of the Board
Dr Iztok Prezelj, Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia, President & Faculty of Social Sciences, University of Ljubljana, Vice-Dean
Moderator: Katja Geršak, Centre for European Perspective, Executive Director
For more about the event, follow CEP on Facebook and Twitter, you are also invited to follow the Euro-Atlantic Council of Slovenia on Facebook and the Politics and Society Institute on Facebook and Twitter.
![[Webinar recording] Radicalization and Violent Extremism Across Borders: An Ongoing Threat](https://www.cep.si/wp-content/uploads/2021/02/Webinar-Radicalization-CEP-website-1080x608.png)