In early June, the Joint Centre for Disaster Research (JCDR) delivered the first online version of its week-long Emergency Management (EM) Summer Institute short course to a small group of participants from the United Arab Emirates (UAE).
Seven high-ranking officials in charge of emergency management from the Abu Dhabi Police and Sharjah Police attended the course.
Programme Coordinator for JCDR Jennifer Lillo said; "We had started a conversation with UAE a couple years ago and they were hoping to come in-person to our course, but obviously Covid got in the way."
The EM Summer Institute is a programme providing a theoretical and practical introduction to selected topics relating to emergency management – including warning systems, decision making, animal welfare, human behaviour and incident command systems.
“We have had many international participants in the course in previous years, however due to the border restrictions, this was the first time the course was delivered in an online environment for a specific international cohort,” said Miss Lillo.
“Participants appreciated the variety of topics covered and the ability to have conversations with subject experts as well as to have a forum in which to share their own experiences.”
The course has also been useful for the JCDR to continue to develop and foster overseas partnerships despite limited international travel.
Since the course has finished, JCDR staff have had further conversations with United Arab Emirates partners about potential future courses and collaborations.
The partnership between the UAE National Crisis and Emergency Management Authority was facilitated through Te Taurapa Tūhono New Zealand Trade and Enterprise (NZTE).