Management training for authorities: a new addition to the EUROWA training suite

Sea Alarm has now developed a one-day Oiled Wildlife Response Managers training course which has been added to the EUROWA suite of courses. The course will be provided in mid-October in Helsinki, to attendees of the Baltic Responder Meeting organized by the HELCOM (Helsinki Commission) Response Expert Working Group on Oiled Wildlife Response (EWG-OWR) and will be made available to other countries and regions outside the Baltic Region upon request.

Understanding the many aspects of managing an oiled wildlife response from the perspective of a governmental agency that has taken responsibility to coordinate the response is the focus of the new course. A variety of topics will be presented to help participants develop a deeper insight so that they can recognize and anticipate scenarios, select response management options, flag up emerging issues of potential reputation damage, and provide pro-active communication of the possibilities and impossibilities of a given scenario with the wider public.

Invited participants to the Baltic Responder Meeting are the authority representatives from Baltic Member States who are Members of the EWG-OWR. Most of these individuals would have to coordinate an integrated oiled wildlife response in their country on behalf of their Ministry.

Also attending this meeting are NGOs who were selected in their country as the leading groups to oversee and perform the hands-on work on oiled wildlife casualties. They will benefit from attending the course given that, in a real-time incident their leading experts will be co-managing the response with the lead agency, and thus will need to have the same crucial insights.

The EWR-OWR is a working group that serves under HELCOM RESPONSE and aims to oversee all issues of national and international preparedness under the convention.