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Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE)

Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE)

Type(s): Educational / Training Institute; Think Tank

Scope: International

Description: The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE) was established in 2013 and accredited in 2015. The CMDR COE’s key objective is to support and contribute to the enhancement of NATO’s crisis management and disaster response (CMDR) capabilities and, as a corollary, to improve the Alliance’s interoperability. The Centre’s primary area of responsibility, CMDR, is coupled with a broad thematic portfolio including relevant cross-cutting topics such as resilience, climate change, protection of civilians, and gender mainstreaming.The CMDR COE’s education and training activities, research and analyses, concept and doctrine development, experimentation and lessons learned make up the Centre’s operational toolkit specifically tailored to achieving the afore-mentioned objectives. Maintaining its stand as an indispensable source of expertise and advice in the field of crisis management and disaster response is a top priority, and the Centre’s essential success indicators are the ability to establish and foster collaborative partnerships.

Key Activities:

In order to investigate the current progress of space weather modelling across the partner nations, in2020 under the leading role of the CMDR COE, the Modelling and Simulation Group on Space WeatherModelling was initiated. As NATO nations have grown increasingly dependent during the last fewdecades on the benefits that derive from the development of various space capabilities, this studymanaged to identify operational modelling gaps by investigating the current progress of space weathermodelling across the partner nations. Furthermore, the further advancement of these models, as well astheir optimal operationalisation within NATO was determined by the MSG-187 project.

In 2021, the 9th Annual CMDR COE Conference placed emphasis on the Impact of Climate Change toSecurity. The event brought together representatives from the wide CMDR community of interest,including SMEs from NATO, NATO Allies and Partners, the academia as well as the private and non-governmental sectors. Alongside the importance of space weather environmental modelling, the eventhighlighted the significant impact of climate change on individual, state and non-state actors as well as on the military sector and activities.

In 2022, alongside its 10th Annual Conference, the CMDR COE co-organised the 2nd InternationalConference on Environmental Protection and Disaster Risks (EnviroRISKs). The event welcomedexperts in the respective fields of expertise from the international community of interest, which sharedthe results from their research efforts and exchanged expertise and best practices. The conference wasdivided into several panels and covered the following sub-topics: Disaster Management, NaturalHazards, Risk reduction and Building Resilience; Climate Change Challenges and Security Implications;Air Pollution and Health; Water resources and management; Informatics, Remote sensing, GIS, Highperformance computing.

In 2023, under the leading role of CMDR COE, the Modelling and Simulation Group in support of BuildingResilience and Management of People Mass Movement (MSG-221) was initiated. This project aims toinvestigate the migrant flows as well as to discover ways to predict, monitor, and effectively manage themass movements of people. Resilience, encompassing both civil and military capabilities, has proven tobe a topic of significant importance to NATO Nations. The MSG-221 intends to fortify the level ofresilience during crises and significant disaster events, thus benefitting the Alliance and its member nations.

Under the auspices of the European Security and Defence College (ESDC), the CMDR COE conducts aspecialised course on Climate Change and Security. The Education and Training event aims to enhancethe trainees’ awareness of the security implications of climate change. The course provides generalknowledge about the nature of the global warming phenomenon and its impact as a security threatmultiplier. In addition, the impact, which climate change has on international peace and security ispresented in short, mid and long-term period through interactive lectures, panel discussions and group tasks.

Website: https://cmdrcoe.org/

Featured Action(s):

Featured Publications(s):

  • CMDR COE Proceedings (published on an annual basis)
  • Implications of Climate Change and Disasters on Military Activities. Building Resiliency andMitigating Vulnerability in the Balkan Region (2017)
  • Disasters Handbook (2022)

Featured Event(s):

  • 9th CMDR COE Annual Conference on Climate Change Impact to Security (June 2021)
  • Resilience through Civil Preparedness Course (November 2021)
  • Climate Change and Security Course (June 2021, April 2022, March 2023)
  • EnviroRISKs (June 2022, June 2024)

TOPICS / Subjects:

  • CLIMATE CHANGE
  • Adaptation 
  • Resilience
  • Vulnerability
  • CLIMATE CHANGE IMPACTS
  • Displacement / Migration
  • Human Rights
  • Resilience
  • CLIMATE DISASTERS / EMERGENCIES
  • DISASTER PREVENTION
  • Risk Assessment
  • DISASTER RESPONSE
  • Best Practices / Lessons Learned
  • Civil-Military Cooperation
  • CLIMATE AND SECURITY
  • Environmental Security
  • Human Security
  • National Security
  • International Security