PEERS at the Security Research Event 2023

Brussels, 24-25 October 2023

The Security Research Event 2023 held in Brussels on 24-25 October was the perfect opportunity for PEERS to meet other researchers and practitioners working on security-related topics, to discuss the state of the art of the project and our progress.

Due to limited space, this year was difficult being available, meaning that not all projects were able to demonstrate. However, thanks to CSTAC, the CBRN and Standardisation Cluster of projects pioneered by PEERS, colleagues from our sister project INCLUDING kindly provided the opportunity for us to present work by hosting our latest information on their stand.

On behalf of PEERS, Jon Hall and David Wales from the Resilience Advisors Network were present, to make sure that the Cluster approach went well.

They took the opportunity to present an overview of the project, with a strong focus on CBRNE standardisation for responders.

The newly launched PEERS Demonstrator Group was well received and details of the three scenarios being built to show-off the capabilities of the PEERS ecosystem were presented:

  • Decontamination and Medical Countermeasures
  • Standard Operating Procedures for first responders
  • The use of NATO CBRNE standards on a civilian environment.

The Group is building a gathering of stakeholders who will help develop and shape the new ecosystem from the perspective of responders over the next year.

The opportunity was also taken to promote the forthcoming webinar with the National Standards Authority of Ireland (NSAI) (online, 12 December 2023) and to present PEERS engagement in CSTAC, which was particularly well-received.

The stand was visited by many practitioners and partners from our sister projects, particularly firefighters and medics. Officials from the Horizon Europe world were also in attendance and we were delighted to meet with the Head of Unit for the European Research Executive Agency (REA) Secure Societies, our own REA Project Officer and the head of Secure Societies from DG HOME, amongst others.

The conference itself discussed many issues, including the benefits of cross-programme working, which PEERS is currently championing by growing CSTAC.

We look forward to the annual event of the CERIS Disaster Resilient Societies (Brussels, 4-7 December 2023), when the Community will come together to consider future policy and research directions.

ABOUT THE SECURITY RESEARCH EVENT:

The Security Research Event (SRE) is the annual meeting where policy makers, industry and knowledge institutions meet to discuss the state of play and current challenges for security research in Europe.

This year the event was organised by the European Commission with the support of the Spanish Presidency of the Council of the EU, represented by Spanish Departamento de Retos Sociales, Dirección de Programas de la UE y Cooperación Territorial. This edition focused on challenges stemming from global megatrends, such as societal transformation, digitalisation and climate change, which are contributing to building a new paradigm for Security Research in the EU.

The SRE 2023 consisted of a Conference and an Exhibition. Opening Keynote Speeches and an Introductory High Level Round Table on the future of security research set the policy context and provided thoughts for thematic panels of the event. The Exhibition hosted over 50 booths presenting selected security research projects funded by the EU programmes, such as PEERS, as well booths presenting activities of the European Commission, EU security-related agencies and the national security research activities of Spain.