The EU-funded H2020 PROACTIVE Project led by the UIC Security Division used the first half of 2022 to distribute important research results to different audience groups, such as to rail stakeholders, security practitioners, scientific communities, and policy makers. The project reached out to these target groups through several tailored publications.
The first publication looked at the challenges that railways face in dealing with chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and explosive (CBRNe) incidents and how the EU-funded PROACTIVE project can better help railway staff to face these threats. Data collected from two surveys (one with 223 first responders, and one with 30 rail companies) allowed five key areas to be identified, where railway staff could develop or improve their skills and thereby increase general preparedness. The study was published in the Applied Ergonomics journal for the scientific and academic communities (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.apergo.2022.103752).
The same paper is also available at UIC’s “Raildoc” online repository for UIC members: https://raildoc.uic.org/gediweb5/?5&docId=103086&page=home&displayTab=2&blocOngletId=64766.
The practical aspects of the study were also summarised in a Global Railway Review article targeted at the railway community (https://www.globalrailwayreview.com/article/134740/how-to-better-prepare-the-railway-sector-for-cbrne-threats/).
The second publication was a policy paper entitled “CBRNe toolkit for policy makers: integrating vulnerable groups in preparedness and response” (https://doi.org/10.13140/RG.2.2.28269.05608). It recommends that EU policy makers facilitate the development of coherent, evidenced-based guidance documents that incorporate the needs of vulnerable citizens in three stages (before, during and after the event).
The third publication focused on crisis communication in CBRNe preparedness and response, and on how vulnerable people’s needs could be better considered in this process. The study was published in the International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction (https://doi.org/10.1016/j.ijdrr.2022.103187) and showed that CBRNe practitioners very rarely consider vulnerable groups’ needs in their communication strategies for major emergencies. The scientific paper proposed four recommendations to improve this issue.
Finally, a report which included the key takeaways and lessons learnt from the first CBRNe field training exercise was submitted to the European Commission at the end of June. The exercise took place in Dortmund on 7 May 2022 and focused on decontamination after a chemical rail incident. The report is publicly available on the project website: https://proactive-h2020.eu/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/PROACTIVE_20220630_D6.3_V4_DHPol_Dortmund-Field-Exercise.pdf.
A Railway Gazette article also summarised the field exercise. (https://www.railwaygazette.com/research-training-and-skills/chemical-train-emergency-simulated/61685.article) and the PROACTIVE YouTube videos too: trailer (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3SU84EaA3bQ) and long version (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mI-oo5YFWEE).
PROACTIVE will continue to publish results throughout the second half of 2022 via new publications which are currently in print, under review or in preparation.
The PROACTIVE project has received funding from the European Union’s Horizon 2020 research and innovation programme under grant agreement No. 832981.
PROACTIVE can be followed on Twitter (@PROACTIVE_EU) as well as on LinkedIn (https://www.linkedin.com/company/proactive-eu/) and the project website https://proactive-h2020.eu/.
