On 4th and 5th of November 2020, the international research exchange workshop has been organized in a full on-line mode with 35 remote participants from CP and RC organizations in Armenia, Georgia, Ukraine, AutRC and RAN partners along with other participants from ECHO, IFRC, and PPRD 3 East project.
This international research exchange workshop followed the three national workshops organized in September 2021 involving RC, CP and RAN project’ partners.
The purpose of the workshop was to create an exchange between project countries about the outcomes of the research process and thematic discussed during the national workshops, also identifying some directions to move forward for strengthening volunteering in CP systems.
The structure and main objectives of the project was first introduced by the AutRC Technical Adviser to the participants.
A complete overview of the UK and Iceland Civil Protection Systems were then presented to the audience by two Icelandic and UK experts affiliated to RAN project partner. These two sessions were followed by discussions where participants could ask questions to the experts, establish parallel with the current status quo in their respective country and identify possible new directions to develop volunteering among CP systems in Armenia, Georgia, and Ukraine.
The research findings and recommendations were introduced per countries in three different sessions; current status quo, gaps and challenges, model proposed for the project and next steps to establish this model.
Each country presentation was also followed by a discussion between participants, the topics below were at the core of the debates:
- Status of volunteers (community-based volunteers, state volunteers…)
- Integration of volunteers into CP systems (roles and responsibilities of volunteers)
- Sustainability (national and local contribution, self-fundraising by volunteers…)
- Legislation (law on volunteering, benefits, insurance…)
- Operational process (trainings, certification, dispatch and alarm, communication…)
- Volunteers’ management (ways of motivation, prevention and preparedness activities…)
In the final session the AutRC Technical Adviser presented the next step for project implementation, particularly how the research and workshops findings may be integrated to finalize volunteer development plans, cooperation models and set up the volunteers’ groups.
