Published works

The International Emergency Management Society (TIEMS) is an international not for profit non-profit organisation, registered in Belgium, operating in its 26th year. TIEMS has chapters in 14 countries around the world and is in the process of establishing three new chapters this year. TIEMS activities comprise international conferences and workshops; research and development activities; and education, training and certification programs. TIEMS’s slogan is: Preparedness saves lives.

Since 2006 TIEMS has participated as a consortium partner in European Union (EU) Research and Technology Development (RTD) programs to improve emergency preparedness. In addition, TIEMS experts have been members of user groups and advisory boards for a variety of other EU projects focusing on preparedness in Europe and worldwide. The present running EU program is Horizon 2020, which will have invested more than 100 billion Euro in RTD by the end of 2020, by EU RTD funding and private investment.

Four EU projects where TIEMS has been a consortium partner are: NARTUS (addressing important public safety communication issues); ASSET (improving trust between authorities and the public for pandemics and epidemics); HERACLES (protecting cultural heritage sites towards climate change), and DG ECHO Wildfire HUB (establishing an expert HUB in Europe to support wildfire fighting and to serve as a prototype for additional expert HUB’s for other disasters in Europe). This paper summarizes the approaches developed by these programs to improve emergency preparedness.

TIEMS has also launched its own internal RTD project to develop a curriculum and on-line system for TIEMS International Certification – TQC, which aims to become an internationally recognised certification of qualifications in international emergency management. This paper describes the structure and operational aspects of TQC.

Download the full non-peer reviewed research proceedings from the Bushfire and Natural Hazards CRC Research Forum here.