{"id":47615,"date":"2026-03-24T21:53:12","date_gmt":"2026-03-24T21:53:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/47615\/"},"modified":"2026-03-24T21:53:12","modified_gmt":"2026-03-24T21:53:12","slug":"sunshine-conducts-first-simulation-exercise-in-brussels-to-advance-use-of-eu-space-data-and-services-in-civil-protection","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/47615\/","title":{"rendered":"SUNSHINE Conducts First Simulation Exercise in Brussels to Advance Use of EU Space Data and Services in Civil Protection"},"content":{"rendered":"

Starting today, 24 March 2026, the EU-funded\u00a0SUNSHINE project<\/a> is conducting its first Simulation Exercise (SIMEX) in Brussels. Running through 25 March, this activity supports the operational uptake of EU Space Programme data and services by EU Member States civil protection\u00a0authorities.<\/p>\n

This is the\u00a0first-ever EU-level cross-cutting simulation exercise\u00a0designed to cover all components of the EU Space Programme – Copernicus, Galileo, Space Situational Awareness (SSA), GOVSATCOM, and IRIS2\u00a0– within a single operational framework for civil protection authorities.\u00a0By using this approach, attendees will gain a clear understanding of how these\u00a0space-based services can support emergency management procedures.<\/p>\n

The exercise is designed as a practical, scenario-based activity which places participants in a simulated real-life crisis environment. It enables professionals to apply the knowledge acquired during their participation in a previous SUNSHINE Training, within a realistic and time-constrained operational setting.<\/p>\n

\u201cTaking part in the first SUNSHINE SIMEX has been an outstanding opportunity, not only for discovering the great potential of EU space assets in a crisis scenario, but also for the human experience of working side by side with colleagues from different EU Member States. Exchanging perspectives, comparing procedures, and building trust across teams made the scenarios feel truly operational. Beyond the exercise itself, we are bringing back practical takeaways we can apply immediately at home, from faster access to space-based information to clearer coordination workflows, helping make our response processes more efficient and effective.\u201d Paolo Covelli, Civil Protection Officer at Italian Civil Protection, SUNSHINE SIMEX participant<\/p>\n

Over the course of the two-day exercise, participants\u00a0will\u00a0follow established activation procedures\u00a0for exploiting\u00a0EU Space-based data and services across two simulated crisis scenarios: one related to wildfires, and\u00a0another related\u00a0to floods. The primary objective is to strengthen their ability to effectively use and activate EU Space services in support of civil protection decision-making processes.<\/p>\n

The SUNSHINE Simulation Exercises complement the project\u2019s training\u00a0opportunities, building on seminars, webinars and technical assistance to national civil protection authorities,\u00a0by translating theoretical knowledge into operational practice. This approach supports continuous learning and helps improving participants\u2019 ability to integrate space-based solutions into real-world emergency management workflows in their country.<\/p>\n

\u201cExercises like the SUNSHINE SIMEX are essential to keep Europe\u2019s civil protection community up to date with the latest tools and procedures, and ready to act when crises strike. By training together and testing how space-based services can better support the Emergency Response Coordination Center and the EU Member States situational awareness, coordination and decision-making, we strengthen our collective preparedness and ensure the Union Civil Protection Mechanism remains operationally fit for purpose\u201d. Olimpia Imperiali, Project Officer at European Commission\u2019s Directorate-General for European Civil Protection and Humanitarian Aid Operations (DG ECHO)<\/p>\n

Looking ahead<\/p>\n

Following the first two seminars in Tallinn (November 2025) and Strasbourg (March 2026), the SUNSHINE capacity building programme will continue with two additional seminars in Timi\u0219oara, Romania (5\u20138 May 2026) and Zagreb, Croatia (23\u201326 June 2026), further expanding the network of trained professionals across Europe. Participation in a SUNSHINE Training Seminar is\u00a0recommended before participating to a\u00a0Simulation Exercise (SIMEX), ensuring that selected participants can build directly on the methods, tools and activation procedures covered during the training. The link to the expression of interest for the next two seminars is available at the end of this press release. A second\u00a0SIMEX\u00a0is also scheduled to take place in Brussels, in October 2026.<\/p>\n

These seminars also feed into the SUNSHINE Ambassadors Programme, which helps sustain the community of practice by empowering trained professionals to act as national and organisational focal points for the uptake of EU Space Programme services. For those national authorities willing to address in depth a specific aspect of the EU space programme and its benefit in disaster management contexts, SUNSHINE can organise targeted bilateral meetings with interested authorities and organisations. Such bilateral exchanges with space experts offer an exclusive forum to follow-up on training needs, discuss concrete use cases and support participation in upcoming activities, including SIMEX.<\/p>\n

The\u00a0SUNSHINE project is funded by the European Union as a capacity building programme. The consortium is composed with Telespazio France, ALSO Space, CNES, Edelweiss Resilience, EENA, FDC, IABG and UNISTRA-SERTIT.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cWith the first SUNSHINE\u00a0simulation exercise,\u00a0we are reaching a major milestone for the project: this SIMEX demonstrates\u00a0how\u00a0the space infrastructure developed and owned by the European Union\u00a0can be used\u00a0in emergency management contexts, and how it can support the efforts of the\u00a0civil protection authorities across Member States. We are proud to\u00a0show what the EU space assets can do to protect our citizens and save lives!\u201d Eric Guyader,\u00a0Galileo Programme engineer\u00a0at European Commission\u2019s Directorate General for Defence Industry and Space (DG DEFIS)<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Starting today, 24 March 2026, the EU-funded\u00a0SUNSHINE project is conducting its first Simulation Exercise (SIMEX) in Brussels. Running…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":47616,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[104],"tags":[211,210,26783,26782,26781],"class_list":{"0":"post-47615","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-brussels","8":"tag-belgium","9":"tag-brussels","10":"tag-earth-observation","11":"tag-satellite-navigation","12":"tag-space-industry"},"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@dk\/116286377518120783","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47615","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=47615"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/47615\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/47616"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=47615"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=47615"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/dk\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=47615"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}