The WOAH Disaster Management and Risk Reduction (DMRR) workshop on developing Response Plans was held from July 8 to 10, 2025, in Bucharest, Romania.
Twenty participants representing 6 WOAH member countries, namely Bulgaria, France, Greece, Iceland, Romania and Spain, took part in the workshop, actively contributing to knowledge exchange and cross-country collaboration.
The workshop primarily took stock of the current WOAH Members’ Veterinary Services contingency plans by having Members deliver short, comprehensive presentation updates, setting the tone for knowledge and experience sharing on their national disaster management system. Subsequently, a series of presentations and group work exercises took place, aiming to foster understanding and knowledge of the process for developing, structuring, and the necessary elements for a response plan. In addition, with the support of our experts, the development of a strong Veterinary Services response plan was also supported with presentations and ongoing examples. Partners, such as the European Commission’s DG ECHO and our Collaborating Centre from the Swedish University of Agricultural Sciences, significantly contributed by providing examples of their ongoing work with the civil protection mechanisms that support the collaborative development of the Centre for Disaster Veterinary Medicine.
The World Organisation for Animal Health is grateful to Spain and the Royal Society for the Prevention of Cruelty to Animals (RSPCA) for providing financial support to the event. WOAH also expresses its gratitude to Romania for hosting the event and providing substantial organisational support.
Meeting Report
| DAY 1: July 2025 | |||
| 9:00 | Registration and welcoming of participants | ||
| Session 1: | State of play | Chairperson: | |
| 09:30 – 09:45 | Opening remarks | Dr Csutak Nagy (Romania) Tomasz Grudnik (WOAH) |
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| 09:45 – 10:00 | WOAH Global activities check with HQ | Daniel Donachie -Online (HQ colleague) | |
| 10:00 – 10:15 | WOAH Platform on animal welfare for Europe | Tomasz Grudnik / Fernando de Abreu (WOAH) | |
| 10:15 – 10:30 | WOAH Competency Framework and eLearning Platform | Hana Abdelsattar – Online (HQ colleague) | |
| 10:30 – 10:45 | Q&A / Discussion | ||
| 10:45 – 11:00 | Coffee break | ||
| Session 2: | Disaster management and risk reduction – Contingency Framework | ||
| 11:00 -12:30 | Overview of disaster management and risk reduction Introduction to Disaster Response Planning Objectives and role of Veterinary Services (VS) |
H. Squance (Joint Centre for Disaster Research) | |
| Q&A / Discussion | |||
| 12:30-13:30 | Lunch | ||
| Session 3: | Understanding countries’ state of play | ||
| 13:30-15:30 | Countries presentation (15’ per country) overview of state of play on response plan – legislation, resources, main challenges Bulgaria France Greece Iceland Romania Spain |
Countries state of play on response plan | |
| 15:30-15:45 | Coffee break | ||
| 15:45 – 17:30 | Working group exercise I– identifying key challenges – Presentation – Group work – Reporting – Discussion |
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| 19:00 | Dinner | ||
| DAY 2: July 2025 | ||
| Session 4: | State of play | Chairperson |
| 09:30 – 10:00 | Centre for Disaster Veterinary Medicine | L. Tuominen (SLU) |
| 10.00 – 10:30 | European cooperation during emergencies: the role of the Union Civil Protection Mechanism and the Emergency Response Coordination Centre |
Sien VANLOMMEL – European Commission – DG ECHO
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| 10:30 – 10:45 | Technical lecture – Introduction To Animal Disaster Response Operations For Decision Makers |
J. Peaveler (Humane Innovations) |
| 10:45-11:00 | Coffee break | |
| 11:00 -12:30 | Working group exercise II Outcome of the previous exercise and possible solutions – Presentation – Reporting – Discussion |
Working with Scenarios
Selecting scenarios (wildfires, multi-hazard frameworks) |
| 12:30- 13:30 | Lunch | |
| Session 5: | ||
| 13:30 – 14:45 | Process for Developing and Structuring Response Plans Step-by-step process Stakeholder engagement and coordination |
J. Tickel |
| 14:45 – 15:00 | Coffee break | |
| 15:00 – 16:30 | Working group exercise III Outcome of the previous exercise and possible solutions – Presentation – Reporting Discussion |
Working with Scenarios
Selecting scenarios (wildfires, multi-hazard frameworks) |
| 19:00:00 | Dinner | |
| DAY 3: July 2025 | ||
| Session 6: | Chairperson: | |
| 09:30 – 10:00 | L. Tuominen (SLU) | |
| 09:30 – 10:30 | Establishing Regional Cooperation Platforms
Initial discussions on a network of contact points and TORs |
Tomasz Grudnik (WOAH) |
| 10:30 – 11:15 | Planning for Simulation Exercises
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| 11:15 – 11:30 | Coffee break | |
| Session 7: Next steps | ||
| 11:30 – 12:15 | Experts panel discussion | |
| 12:15 – 12:45 | Next activities, main conclusions, closing remarks | T. Grudnik |
| 12:45 – 13:30 | Lunch / Departures | |
| 13:30 – 15:30 | Visit to the Palace of Parliament | |
