Click here to access to the web page of the event

The EU-funded Programme on Prevention, Preparedness and Response to Natural and Man-made Disasters (PPRD South) is organising its fourth regional workshop on “Information in Emergency and Awareness Raising” which will take place in Amman, Jordan, from 5 to 8 July  2010.

Around 60 experts in information and communications working in the Civil Protection Authorities of the Mediterranean and Balkan countries participating in the Programme, together with representatives of other organisations and ministries, will gather with the aim to take stock of the best ways to deal with the media during emergencies and to alert the population on existing hazards and possible risk reduction measures.

Nayef Al Kadi, the Jordanian Minister of Interior together with Patrick Renauld, Head of the EU Delegation to Jordan, and Francesco Fransoni, Italian Ambassador in Jordan will open the four-day workshop and address a welcome speech to the participants.

The first session of the workshop will focus on how to manage relations with the media during emergencies in view to avoid misinformation and reduce the impacts of disasters on the population. Participants will have the opportunity to learn how to plan and implement a successful communications and media strategy. They will be involved in hands-on group exercises on how to draft targeted statements for the media and deliver effective interviews. The growing importance of internet, of its social networks and blogs in crisis communication will also be highlighted along with the rapid changes occurred in the world of media during the last ten years.

The second session of the workshop will address awareness raising. Case studies and good practices from the Euro-Mediterranean region will introduce participants to the most appropriate tools and methods to educate the population to disaster prevention and preparedness, from identification of the objectives to formulation of the messages.

At the end of the four-day workshop, the participants will have deepened their understanding concerning crisis communications and awareness raising. They will be able to identify priorities for action and select the key ingredients for successful communications and awareness raising strategies.