Improving Emergency Response Technologies: Watch the PathoCERT Explainer Video! Managing and responding efficiently to disaster situations, requires a high-level of coordination and cooperation from those in charge of the command through to the first responders on the ground. Emergency events linked to waterborne pathogen contamination are among those where stakeholder engagement is crucial to ensure the deployment of appropriate technologies and responses. Our PathoCERT project is driving forward the development of novel and easily usable technological solutions, services, and governance mechanisms to increase the situational awareness and coordination of first respondents on the ground and key actors operating along the command and control chain, enabling them to rapidly and safely respond to threats. The preparedness level to effectively and timely react and operate in the occurrence of waterborne pathogen contamination events requires not only a set of tailored technologies, but also an effective coordination and collaboration among different stakeholder groups. PathoCERT brings together those two lines of action connecting key actors with a series of novel tools and technologies. Over the past months, 19 Community of Practice (CoP) meetings have been organised in the six pilot cities: Granada (Spain), Amsterdam (the Netherlands), Limassol (Cyprus), Thessaloniki (Greece), Sofia (Bulgaria) and Seoul (South Korea), engaging 383 external stakeholders and project partners. The latest Community of Practice meeting took place in November 2022 in Cyprus and represented a key milestone. It was the first time that the PathoCERT technology outputs were presented to local stakeholders who were able interact with the tools in real time and provide direct feedback to the technology providers. For example, during the meeting stakeholders could test directly the PathoTeSTICK, a portable sensor which allows first responders to rapidly detect if the water has been contaminated, and if yes, by which pathogens exactly. After having tested the tool, CoP participants shared suggestions on how the tool could be possibly employed also by volunteers during emergency events in order to support the actions of first responders on the ground. Similar Community of Practice meetings will follow up in 2023 combined with on-the-ground training activities and/or tabletop simulation exercise. If you want to know more about multi-stakeholder engagement processes, check out the PathoCERT explainer video. By loading the video, you agree to YouTube's privacy policy.Learn more Load video Always unblock YouTube Further details on stakeholder management activities within the PathoCERT project are included in the project publications: Stakeholder Mapping and Requirements Analysis Stakeholder Engagement Plan Community of Practice: Best Practices and Key Learnings The PathoCERT project is funded under the European Union research programme, Horizon 2020 and runs until 2023. For further information, please contact Francesca Grossi.