Safe Stadium in Indonesia and Thailand

EU CBRN CoE Project 61 Sound Management of chemicals and their associated wastes was very significant project in South East Asia. Project 61 Consortium carried out training activities in Indonesia (Bali) and in Thailand in November and December 2022. In addition to these training activities, the Project 61 final meeting was organized in Indonesia (Bali), where delegates from EU CBRN CoE, UNICRI and also National Focal Points from Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam participated.

International Security and Emergency Management Institute (ISEMI) as part of Project 61 consortium participated at final meeting of EU CBRN CoE Project 61 on 28th and 29th of November 2022 in Indonesia. During this meeting ISEMI informed about Safe stadium project and distributed Safe Stadium Project leaflets to 6 National Focal Points from Indonesia, Philippines, Cambodia, Lao PDR, Thailand and Viet Nam and also representatives from EU CBRN CoE and UNICRI. ISEMI proposed to carry out project related to CBRN Protection of public spaces and mass events in South East Asia. Moreover, ISEMI disseminated information about Safe Stadium project and shared leaflets in Bangkok on 7th of December 2022 during EU CBRN CoE Project 61 National training in Thailand.

 

Safe Stadium at Major Sports Events Experts Meeting

Safe Stadium was presented at Major Sports Events Experts Meeting held at Council of the European Union on 12 October 2022. Major Sports Events Experts are part of Law Enforcement Working Party which handles work relating to legislative activities as well as cross-border policing and related operational issues in various areas including security of major events and sports events. Safe Stadium delegates presented project aims and ambitions which cover also improvement in legislation area – review of available legislation, development of proposals to regulate CBRN at mass Events. At the same time, a proposal was made to cooperate at expert group level, which, if accepted, will be pursued in the areas of legislation, training and project promotion. We will keep you informed of further progress in this area.

 

Joint Union Actions Event for DG HOME Projects

Safe Stadium members participated at Joint Union Actions Event for DG HOME Projects organized in Brussels on 26.09.2022. The event was organized for beneficiaries of projects awarded under the 2019 and 2020 Annual Work Programmes and brought together almost 200 projects, under both AMIF and ISF funds, representatives of DG HOME and other European Commission services, as well as other relevant stakeholders.

The event aimed to:

  • create a networking platform for projects and to strengthen synergies between the Union actions and national programmers;
  • share good practices in the area of project management, communication & dissemination as well as risk management;
  • ensure and strengthen a common understanding of mutual expectations between the Commission and the project beneficiaries.

We are pleased to inform that two project members, Michał Bijak (University of Lodz) and Lubos Trudic (ISEMI) were also invited as event speakers in the area of synergies and other funding opportunities for ISF grants.

Partners of the Safe Stadium consortium visited Malmö

On September 19-22, 2022, representatives of the Center for Prevention of Biological Threats of the University of Lodz and representatives of the Warsaw Metropolitan Police participated in the symposium “14th International CBRNe Protection Symposium” organized in Malmö, Sweden.

The symposium was hosted by the Swedish government institution FOI Swedish Defense Research Agency. The event was opened by the Deputy Director General of FOI and the Chief of the Swedish Police. Introductory speeches were also given by representatives of the Lithuanian and Austrian governments. In turn, the keynote speaker was a representative of the anti-terrorism unit of the European Commission’s Directorate General for Migration and Home Affairs – Viktor Wojtas. The symposium featured a presentation of the European Commission’s efforts to create funding opportunities for projects aimed at preventing and combating CBRNe threats.

Topics of the symposium included such issues as:

  • CBRNe threat detection, identification, monitoring and medical treatment;
  • Forensic analysis of CBRNe events;
  • Physical protection;
  • Decontamination;
  • History of CBRNe events;
  • Health risk assessment;
  • Operational training and case studies;
  • Commercial development technologies.

The above issues were presented during the symposium by representatives of international institutions dealing with the detection, prevention and response to CBRNe threats, including The Organization for the Prohibition of Chemical Weapons, The US Department of State, The Northern Arizona University (NAU), and The Military University of Technology in Warsaw.

As part of the symposium, there was held a demonstration of the decontamination of officers of the Swedish services on board in case of a CBRNe threat, and an extensive exhibition of protective equipment was organized, during which the latest products and research were presented.

We are pleased to report that during its presentation, the Safe Stadium Project was evaluated as one of the best examples of funding for the activities of services in the detection, prevention and response to CBRNe threats

Stay tuned. SAFE STADIUM consortium’s work continues!!!

Needs of sport facilities in area of CBRN safety

We invite you to read summary of Safe Stadium research phase on needs of sport facilities in area of CBRN safety. The research followed a three-stage research process, supplementing the findings from the desk research, which analysed over 100 documents. The first stage saw seven of the consortium partners sport facilities collecting information using two questionnaires and conclusion form observation of safety procedures during organized sport and cultural events. The second stage added data from 14 Polish sports facilities. The third stage then involved an online survey of 95 respondents from across the Europe.

We encourage you to read the Executive summary, that it is the result of the first phase of the project.

Safe Stadium Research Executive Summary_website

SAFE STADIUM Consortium partners coordination meeting- 01.06.2022

On the 1st of June 2022, an on-line meeting of the SAFE STADIUM consortium partners was held.  During a joint debate, representatives of scientific institutions, former special forces officers and experts from various security fields from 5 European Union countries discussed the progress of work conducted under the project, which focuses on increasing the level of protection of multi-sport arenas against terrorist threats caused by the use of CBRN agents.

 The meeting was opened by the project coordinator Prof. Michał Bijak from the Centre for Prevention of Biological Threats at the University of Lodz (SAFE STADIUM project leader), who presented the agenda and the order of the meeting.
During the speeches of the following speakers the issues concerning the content and the final shape of the information materials prepared in the form of leaflets, brochures, schemes of action, directed to the people managing the safety at sports arenas (WP 4) were considered. They discussed the way to implement e-learning platform (WP 6) to increase awareness and develop effective response to the occurrence of potential threats and discussed issues concerning the definition of threats of CBRN type that can occur during mass events. Experts from various fields of security presented their proposals for the development of an effective system of detection and removal of contamination caused by threats of biological, chemical and radiation nature and referred to the issues related to the development of the system of evacuation and medical assistance to people affected by a terrorist incident (WP5). Important issues raised during the meeting was the development and implementation of a training program, which is dedicated for employees of services providing security during events in multi-sport arenas (WP6) and the development of a model of spreading biological threats (WP7). The effects of the undertaken works
and verification of the worked out solutions will be crowned with exercises carried out on large-area objects being the arenas of mass events.
The works of consortium are in progress. Stay tuned.

Two study visits in Lodz, Poland

The works of the international consortium Safe Stadium aimed at assessing the vulnerability of large-scale sports venues to terrorist threats related to the potential use of CBRN agents are entering final stage. This time project experts met in Lodz at two facilities administered by MAKIS (Municipal Arena of Culture and Sports). The opportunity to visit the venues were, respectively: a concert of an Australian music formation Dead Can Dance (05.05.2022) and a speedway match (08.05.2022). During the concert at Atlas Arena, which can accommodate about 13 thousand spectators, gathered several thousand fans. While the speedway match on Motoarena, which can accommodate over 10 thousand seats, was attended by 4500 fans of both teams. This two visit were very important for the project, as they focused on different types of events, previous visits were held in relation to football matches (Lech Poznan, Poland; MSK Zilina, Slovakia; Lodz Widzew, Poland and Real Madrid, Spain). Since sport objects may hold various types of events (various matches, concerts, conferences) those visits allowed to observe safety procedures at different context. Two visits in Lodz were the last planned within the project research phase, which included also desk research and survey with sport facilities employees. Conclusions from research phase will be used to create special safety procedures and a system of comprehensive training for people administering multi-level sports and entertainment venues.  

Stay tuned.

Safe Stadium promo video released!

Please see our project promotional video.

Safe Stadium project aims to strengthen CBRN security at sport facilities through identification of stadium needs and elaboration of well-addressed solutions:

  • CBRN safety procedures & tools: safety guidelines, evacuation & crowd management, medical response, vulnerability & risk assessment template, detection procedures and other.
  • Technological safety solution: infrastructure, ICT & equipment recommendation.
  • Epidemiological response: Operating procedures, contamination zones, disease spreading models.
  • Training materials training: CBRN handbooks, e-Learning platform, VR demonstrator.

SAFE STADIUM in Phnom Penh in Cambodia

Cambodia is going to host ASEAN Games in 2023 and CBRN protection of this sport event is one of the tasks for succesfull organization. New modern sport complex  „Morodok Techo National Stadium“ with main stadium, aquatic centre, indoor sport facilities and training halls will be ready for all competitions.

International Security and Emergency Management Institute (ISEMI) as part of the consortium of SAFE STADIUM project in cooperation with Cambodian General Secretariat of National Authority for Prohibition of CBRN Weapons (NACW) conducted working meeting in Phnom Penh in Cambodia on 3rd and 4th of May 2022. Main aims of the meeting were to visit National stadium in Phnom Penh, to present project Safe Stadium and to share current outcomes implemented in EU from this project. In addition, ISEMI representative provided initial advice how to organize CBRN Protection during ASEAN Games 2023. NACW authorities are very interested in Safe Stadium project and they will appreciate if all significant deliverables from Safe Stadium project can be shared or delivered as new project in Cambodia with the aim to improve CBRN protection of sport/mass events in Cambodia.

Visit at the National Stadium during the final match of the Polish Cup 2021/22

SAFE STADIUM project and conducted within WP2 (Research & Analysis phase) visits of large sports facilities are in progress. On the second of May 2022 the project partners visited the National Stadium in Warsaw, during the final match of the Polish Cup between the teams of Lech Poznań and Raków Częstochowa. Scientists and representatives of services and institutions guarding public safety and order, associated within an international consortium, evaluated the state of security at the facility, which during mass event usually seats nearly 60 thousand spectators. During the visit, the issues considered included the possibility of CBRN threats, methods of their neutralization and prevention of such incidents. The vulnerability of the facility to terrorist attacks was also assessed, and solutions were discussed that could significantly increase security at the stadium, both during and before and after a mass event. The visit to the National Stadium was preceded by a working meeting on 29 April 2022, where experts were able to look at the preparations of the organizer for the final match. Conclusions arising from the inspection will be taken into account at the next stage of the ongoing work aimed at creating effective procedures to significantly increase the level of security at large sports venues.

The Polish Football Cup Final ended with a 3:1 victory for the Rakow Częstochowa team. Safe Stadium partners would like to congratulate the winning team!!!