We encourage you to participate in the conference online via:
- registering on the ProSPERES project website,
- or via the project's Facebook profile.
The event will be held in English. Simultaneous translation of the speeches into Polish will also be available.
The conference programme:
- 9:30 a.m. – 9:40 a.m. Opening
- 9:40 a.m. – 10:10 a.m. ISF projects & synergy: EU DG Home
- 10:00 a.m. – 10:20 a.m. Supporting public safety by EU funds: MSWiA
- 10:20 a.m. – 10:40 a.m. ProSPeReS Project information: Marcin Podogrocki, University of Lodz
- 10:40 a.m. – 11:00 a.m. Break
- 11:00 a.m. – 12:00 p.m. Panel discussion on projects related to PW’s security. Moderator: Vivian Gravenberch, Dutch Institute for Safe & Secure Spaces (DISSS). Panellists: SOAR, SHRINEs, PROSECUW, SHIELD, PROTECTOR, ProSPeReS
- 12:00 p.m. – 1:00 p.m. Panel discussion on religious communities’ security. Moderator: Konstantinos Apostolou, Center for Security Studies (KEMEA). Panellists: religious leaders and congregations’ representatives
- 1:00 p.m. – 2:00 Break
- 2:00 p.m. – 2:30 p.m. Keynote speeches: Polish Police & Fire Service (TBC)
- 2:30 p.m. – 3:30 p.m. Final Panel discussion on ProSPeReS results & general recommendations. Moderator – Dr Rafał Batkowski, University of Lodz. Panellists: consortium partners
- 3:30 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. Discussion
- 4:00 p.m. – 4:30 p.m. Summary, conclusions & closing speech
The PROSPERES project is implemented by the University of Lodz, with the participation of 17 partners from Poland and EU countries. The project concerns the preparation of a complete concept of activities for the security of religious communities and religious sites, starting from the assessment of risk and vulnerability to terrorist threats, including attacks by the use of CBRN, through equipment recommendations, procedures, advice on shaping safe spaces, ending with safety management manuals, exercises and courses improving the competences of people responsible for religious sites.
In recent years, extremists have attacked religious sites of various faiths. Information gathered from religious institutions and authorities indicates that there is a growing awareness of risks and a need for increased security with keeping the balance between security measures and preservation of the open nature of religious sites
– Marcin Podogrocki, the project manager from the University of Lodz Biohazard Prevention Centre.
As part of the project, a large-scale exercise was held at the Lodz Cathedral in October 2023. It constituted a simulation of terrorist threats that may occur in places of religious worship. The event, organised by the University of Lodz, the Lodz Regional Police Headquarters, the Archdiocese of Lodz and the ProSPeRes project consortium, was attended by 250 people, including 150 police officers. The exercise made it possible to test and improve the proposed preventive measures and response procedures such as the organisation and operation of the welcome team, checking the facility for suspicious objects, incident management, responding to a terrorist attack with CBRN agents, evacuation, 'invacuation' and 'lockdown', communication and cooperation with the services during and after an incident.
The aforementioned centre is also implementing the Safe Stadium project, which aims at creating a coherent security system for sports facilities. In May this year, the University of Lodz Biohazard Prevention Centre in cooperation with the Warsaw Metropolitan Police organised a comprehensive presentation of innovative solutions in the area of CBRNE security at the National Stadium in Warsaw.
Edit: Honorata Ogieniewska, Communications and PR Centre; photo: Maciej Andrzejewski, Communications and PR Centre; source on the projects: Biohazard Prevention Centre, University of Lodz