The Advanced Crisis Management Conference started today, February 19, and it will go on until tomorrow. The event is taking place in Brussels, in a massive gathering of users and practitioners, researchers and industry, discussing the challenges and opportunities within the crisis management industry.
Felix Bloch from DG European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office - ECHO opened the Conference and emphasized the willingness from the European Commission to support the sustainability of results from projects like DRIVER+.
Matthew Jones from Tyndall Centre for Climate Change Research gave an opening keynote with the latest science on how human-driven climate change enhances the likelihood of wildfires and hinders suppression efforts, even in regions not traditionally prone to them.
Next up was Patrick Meier, PhD from WeRobotics on “decolonising” humanitarian technology through an inclusive approach that involves and empowers local expertise.
Finally, Marcel van Berlo from TNO, presented the project overview followed by the the DRIVER+ Consortium, who explained the key outputs to the audience (Trial Guidance Methodology, Test-bed, Training Module, Portfolio of Solutions, Centres of Expertise and CMINE). Attendees took part in a tour of the Exhibition space where they exchanged individually with the partners on DRIVER+ products.