LOT 1 – ModTTX
The history of the ModEx is also the history of the ModTTX – the Modules table-top exercises.
The modules are the operational capacities within the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). They are defined and established along general requirements and thus ensuring a more standardized and faster response to different types of natural and man-made disasters within and outside of the European Union. In a typical response operation they interact with other response capacities, such as the (European) Union Civil Protection Team (EUCPT) regularly accompanied by a Technical Assistance and Support Team (TAST).
The role of the modules within the UCPM called for specific exercises. To satisfy these demands, the Modules Working Group came up with different types of exercises in 2008. At that time, the Modules table-top exercise (ModTTX) was born.
The ModTTX was created as an exercise for key personnel of the different modules, i.e. Team Leader and Deputy Team Leader or Liaison Officer, together with European Union Civil Protection Experts and TAST.
ModTTX focus on indepth cooperation between different actors in a disaster environment, on procedures, communication and information management, contingency planning etc.
The consortium designed the ModTTX based on the exercise goals set out by the European Commission and started the exercises in 2010.
Within the next 10 years lots of milestones were passed. The first exercise in 2010 was a huge innovation already. As the first crossborder ModTTX, hosted by Slovenia and Croatia, it was a great example for international cooperation. In the following exercises, in total 875 key staff and experts from 39 different countries participated.
10
years40
exercises875
participants41
modules certified41 modules took a step towards their certification to become part of the European Civil Protection Pool. Modules and other response capacities of all sorts acted in scenarios like floods, forest fires and earthquakes within and outside of the European Union. The 39th and 40th ModTTX in October 2020 and March 2021 formed another milestone of module exercises: Due to the COVID-19- pandemic and the travel restrictions, new ways of communication and cooperation had to be found. That is why the 39th ModTTX served as a pilot for a digital version of the exercise – the first dModTTX. Together with the Hamburg University of Applied Sciences, an online collaboration platform was created. After 10 years of ModEx, we have now successfully stepped into a new age of digital exercising of international capacities and experts, and of bridging long distances between them.