MSB in EU projects

Project: RescEU Shelters UA
Funded: The project is funded primarily by the European Commission (DG ECHO)
Budget: About EUR 40.4 million (EUR 22.6 million + EUR 17.8 million for winter adaptation). Some of the administrative costs are met by MSB itself
MSB’s contact person: Gunilla Fallqvist
About the project: In March 2022, MSB was tasked with developing a temporary emergency shelter capacity to provide immediate help to the victims fleeing the war in Ukraine, for the protection of their life and health. This applies in particular to the most vulnerable, including the elderly, women and children.

The need for such adaptation became apparent after the summer of 2022, when the original temporary emergency shelter capacity had been finalised and was ready to be deployed. MSB received additional funding from the EU to adapt the capacity for winter use, to handle low temperatures in Ukraine and other parts of Europe. This adaptation included insulation material, wooden rules and heating units.

The project is led by MSB, who is responsible for the development and maintenance of the capacity as well as for transporting the material and assembling the temporary emergency shelters on request.

The projectruns from 30 March 2022 until 6 April 2025 (including the complementary project for winter adaptation 7 October 2022–6 April 2025).

Project: RescEU shelters SE
Funded: primarily by the European commission (DG ECHO). Some administrative costs are covered by the MSB.
Budget: 25,2 million EUR.
MSB contact person: Sofie Ihlberg (project manager)
About the project: Within the EU civil protection mechanism there is an enhanced, common reserve of capacities at EU level called RescEU, aiming at boosting the preparedness and response capacity for different types of crises, including forest fires and pandemics. In December 2022 MSB was awarded funding by the EU to develop, establish and maintain a long-term emergency shelter capacity within the framework of rescEU. The capacity will focus on emergency shelter units and added components, such as sanitation facilities, beds and generators. The aim of the capacity is to increase long-term preparedness and capacity at the EU level to rapidly provide protection to populations in countries affected by an emergency. The project lasts for 45 months, with project start on the 1st of January 2023.

Project: TRACENET (Training Centre Network on 3D and VR)
Financier: DG ECHO UCPM-2022-KN
MSB’s contact person: Tanja Ståhle
About the project: TRACENET is an initiative to develop a civil protection training centre network, with the support of a scientific institution, to offer technologies and innovations for prevention, preparedness and response, to support policy and decision-making, to encourage scientific excellence and to disseminate and exchange state-of-the-art knowledge and expertise. Within TRACENET, planners, decision makers, experts, teams and civil protection modules will jointly operate, test and learn from each other.

In particular, TRACENET will develop an innovative framework, based on Virtual Reality (VR) solutions and online collaborations in 3D environments to allow simulation scenarios and countless opportunities to build expertise, share knowledge and establish remote but real contacts among participants.

TRACENET plan to:

• Design, develop and implement multi-disciplinary, risk-based thematic community/centre of expertise for civil protection and disaster management stakeholders
• Design, develop and implement capacity-development and applied science activities that contribute to building and sharing of knowledge, expertise and skills in civil protection and disaster management
• Create an innovative, online, collaborative and realistic 3D environment ("framework") to allow simulation scenarios and countless opportunities in Virtual Reality (VR) to build expertise, share knowledge and establish remote but real contacts among participants, reducing costs and the environmental impact of traditional on-site training activities

Link to project websiteLink to UCP Knowledge NetworkContact email: tanja.stahle@msb.se

Project: COLLARIS (COLLaborative network on unmanned AeRIal Systems)
Financier: DG ECHO UCPM-2022-KN
MSB’s contact person: Tanja Ståhle
About the project:  COLLARIS is a capacity-building initiative to develop a sustainable European network of scientific, engineering and end-user’s expertise to promote the exchange of knowledge and experiences related to unmanned aerial systems (UAS) in civil protection and disaster response. The network will be embedded in the Union Civil Protection Knowledge Network.

In establishing the COLLARIS network, the project will arrange a number of activities, such as thematic workshops, webinars and moderated discussions along with trials and embedded first responder trainings. This approach targets an increasing efficiency of UAS operations through bringing knowledge closer to operational use already during the project’s lifetime. The project will conduct two trials on UAS training in MSB Revinge and Sandö in 2024.

All activities align with one or more of the COLLARIS project’s thematic lines:

• Operational procedures, best practices and methods of increasing personnel competence
• Air traffic management challenges and expected new developments of UAS capabilities:
• Solutions for data analysis and data sharing and auxiliary support systems

The COLLARIS project focuses on the use of drones and UAS as a data resource in crisis management and not on individual flying ability/handling.

A project website is under construction.

UCP Knowledge NetworkContact email: tanja.stahle@msb.se

Name: BSR CASCADE – Community Safety Action for Supporting Climate Adaptation and Development (BSR= Baltic Sea Region)

Financier: DG ECHO Civil Protection Financial Instrument, Prevention and Preparedness Projects

MSB’s contact person: Janet Edwards

About the project: CASCADE aims to improve the capacity to understand, assess, and treat current and future climate change related risks on the local level, focusing on the particular conditions in the Baltic Sea Region (BSR).

CASCADE aims to:

• Increase awareness of climate risks, including risk assessments
• Increase capacity for managing climate risks
• Increase awareness of the Sendai Framework and how it can be applied on a local level
• Create cooperation and synergies in the Baltic Sea Region regarding these issues 

What is unique about the project is that it brings together security/emergency preparedness and climate change adaptation issues and the implementation of the UN Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction. The project shall prepare guidelines for climate change adaptation and risk management.

This includes identifying current and coming climate-related risks by:

• Preparing a portfolio of risk assessment methods
• Preparing guidelines for assessing climate risks
• Analysing obstacles
• Testing the guidelines

The purpose of this is to raise awareness and capacity by preparing a course programme for disaster risk reduction that includes climate risk assessments and the Sendai Framework.

Project website

Project: Leveraging ASEAN Capacities for Emergency Response (LACER)

Financier: DG DEVCO - DG for International Cooperation and Development

MSB’s contact person: Carl-Johan Breitholtz

About the project: LACER is an EU funded project aiming to strengthen the regional cooperation organisation ASEAN Coordinating Centre for Humanitarian Assistance on Disaster Management (AHA Centre).

Start date for the project was 1 March 2020, and it will be carried out over a four-year period. Project managers are MSB together with Estonia’s civil protection authority, Estonian Rescue Board (ERB). The overall objective is to strengthen the AHA Centre’s institutional capacity within Disaster Monitoring, Preparedness, and Response. The project also aims to strengthen ASEAN’s disaster response mechanism.

MSB will have a project coordinator in place at AHA Centre in Jakarta, Indonesia, throughout the entire project period. The combined budget is EUR 2.2 million. The project is in the start-up phase.

The project will have its own website, but it has not yet been completed.

Project: Support for coordination and promotion of activities of the Policy Area Secure

Financier: European Regional Development Fund INTERREG Baltic Sea

MSB’s contact person: Julia Fredriksson

About the project: In cooperation with the Council of the Baltic Sea States Secretariat, MSB is coordinating Policy Area Secure within the EU’s Baltic Sea strategy. EU funds are used for the coordination task, which covers PA Secure steering committee meetings and the participation in the activities of the strategy.

Policy Area Secure’s website

Project: Safety & Security Test Arena

Financier: European Regional Development Fund

MSB’s contact person: Louisa Rolandsdotter

About the project: Safety & Security Test Arena is a major regional cooperation project in Northern Sweden. The project follows the triple helix model, where partners from trade and industry, the public sector, and the university collaborate. Emergency services, i.e. police, ambulance, and rescue services, and companies wish to create innovative solutions for optimum cooperation at the scene of the accident and incidents together with scientists at Umeå University. The project is coordinated by the European CBRNE Centre at Umeå University and is funded by the European Regional Development Fund.

Project website

Project: ARCTIC REIHN 2021

Financier: DG ECHO Civil Protection Financial Instrument

MSB’s contact person: Pelle Postgård

About the project: Sweden is one of several partners in the exercise project ARCTIC REIHN 2021. The purpose of the exercise ARCTIC REIHN 2021 is to test and verify the emergency response capability in the event of a nuclear or radiological accident in Northern Norway. The scenario will be a marine accident with consequences for both land and sea. It will be essential to verify and test the international and European warning and response structures.

Project: Enhancing the Civil Protection in Armenia

Financier: DG NEAR. Sida is also supplementing the funding

MSB’s contact person: Marie Velasquez Fredriksson

About the project: The project consists of three components: legal framework, civil protection, and improvement of the HR system within civil protection. The objective is to make civil protection in Armenia more efficient. The project is carried out in cooperation with the Fire and Rescue Department in Lithuania, and the target group is the Ministry of Emergency Situations/Armenian Rescue Services. The project will be initiated in April/May of 2020, last for two years, and cost SEK 12 million. Agreement with the EU is signed in March/April of 2020.

The project does not yet have a website.