From 18-19 June 2018 all PFA-CE project partners met in Kranj in Slovenia to discuss the first draft of the Training of Trainers material on Psychological First Aid and Psychosocial Support in disasters and crisis, developed under the PFA-CE project.

On the basis of structured experience exchange within the PFA-CE project, through national as well as international workshops which were held in Austria, Croatia, Italy, Macedonia, Serbia and Slovenia, and a desk research on existing material and literature, the University of Innsbruck developed extensive materials for Trainings of Trainers (ToT). Those aim to prepare and better equip staff and volunteers in applying methods around 1) PFA & PSS in emergencies, 2) Support to staff and volunteers and 3) Management and support of spontaneous volunteers. The material comprehensive but is not meant to be exclusive. It shall rather fill existing gaps and further complement national materials existing in each country.

During the partner meeting in June, the draft ToT material was discussed and feedback was provided by all partners as well as three experts from the Red Cross of Bulgaria, the UK Red Cross and the French Red Cross, acting as advisors on the PFA-CE project.The University of Innsbruck, together with the expert from the Austrian Red Cross, will now rework the material including these valuable insights and the feedback from the meeting, to further improve it.

In November 2018 a first application of the materials will then follow in form of a trial Training of Trainers event. The event will be guided by the University of Innsbruck and include up to six practitioners experienced in disaster management, training provision, teambuilding, PFA and PSS application and interested in learning more about the topic, from Italy, Slovenia and Austria.