EFSA – EU‐ANSA crisis preparedness training

The European Food Safety Authority (EFSA) chose, for 2023, to use its annual external crisis preparedness training to benefit members of the European Union Agencies Network on Scientific Advice (EU‐ANSA). With its crisis training contractor, Instinctif Partners, EFSA developed a one‐and‐a‐half‐day crisis preparedness training event, which was hosted at the offices of the European Agency for Safety and Health at Work (EU‐OSHA) in person in Bilbao, Spain. The training aimed to, and achieved several objectives, including enhancing the preparedness and collaboration of EU‐ANSA Agencies in supporting evidence‐based policymaking during crises, fostering mutual understanding of the different roles and mandates of the Agencies, setting the scene for future sharing of crisis‐related knowledge and information, testing the EU‐ANSA concept through the draft Framework for Interagency Coordination & Scientific Cooperation In Times Of Crisis, and exploring flexible and proactive approaches to interagency collaboration during crisis response. Following input from EU‐ANSA agency representatives, EFSA and Instinctif Partners developed the programme of activities, which comprised presentations, facilitated discussions and a crisis simulation exercise based on a fictional, multifaceted scenario combining public health and food safety elements. A debrief session following the simulation exercise focused on drawing out areas for enhanced collaboration, as well as future crisis preparedness activities for the agency network. 38 senior representatives of 12 EU‐ANSA agencies and European Commission (EC) Services participated. The objectives of the event were achieved, based on recorded outcomes and feedback provided by participants in an evaluation survey. This report documents the development, content, conclusions and recommendations of this event, as well as the participants’ evaluation of it.