IAWD and the Danube Learning Partnership (D-LeaP) support measures to improve crisis management capacities in the Danube region. The latest event was a four day “Training of Trainers” session in the Czech Republic in early April.

Storms. Floods. Chemical spills. Pandemics. War and terror. The list of disasters that can impact vital infrastructures is long, and nobody is born with the capability to react appropriately and professionally. Crisis management is something that humans need to learn, teach and train. Water and heating utilities are by definition vital infrastructures, and their disaster preparedness for a wide variety of scenarios is the theme of frequent exercises, often in cooperation with public crisis teams and first responder organizations.

Crisis management is also taught systematically in the Water Saftey Planning and Crisis Management Program (WSP) provided by D-LeaP. The curriculum has been developed by a Technical Partner consirtium consisting of Protectum Solutions in cooperation with Wiener Wasser and Energie AG Bohemia. 

Training quality relies on trainer quality, and therefore a four-day training seminar for crisis management trainers was held in early April in Ceske Budejovice, with eight utilities and the Czech Water Association (CzWa) participating.

The training covered the theory and systematics of crisis management and the practical operation in the different roles within a crisis organization, including an exercise based on a challenging flood event scenario with wastewater spillover potential.

The training is based on a tried and tested internal crisis organization model that has proven its value already during the Covid-19 pandemic at the Vak Beroun utility. This system will fully implemented at other Energie AG water companies in the Czech Republic during 2022 and 2023. The Ceske Budejovice event prepared trainers for these rollout activities. Hoping for the best and preparing for the worst is always the preferable course of action.