Region of Istria, as a project partner, organized the event “FIRESPILL project Work Caffe” in the premises of Croatian Chamber of Commerce – County Chamber Pula on Friday, October 15 th 2021. The aim of the event was to acquaint Emergency Services institutions in the Region of Istria with the project and their future involvement in its activities.

Participants of the event were representatives from the Port Authority of Pula, Fire Brigade of the Region of Istria, Istrian Police Administration, Ministry of the Interior Affairs - Civil Protection Directorate, Istrian Red Cross Society, City Red Cross Society Pula and Croatian Mountain Rescue Service - Istria Station.

Among the activities presented by Bruno Kostelić, Head of the Department for the Protection of Nature and Environment of the Region of Istria, there is the procurement of a landing ship approximately nine meters long, and 500 meters of protective dams and accompanying equipment for the prevention of pollution at sea.

Other activities are related to the organization of events, exhibitions, design and implementation of special trainings and exercises, all with the aim of educating target groups and general public about potential threats and encouraging citizens to actively participate in civil protection activities.

As project partner, Region of Istria is in charge of drafting the National Status Report on Emergency Services Regulatory System in the Republic of Croatia, with the aim to determine the current situation and identify proposals for improvements of emergency services system.

The National Report, prepared by the organization Civil Protection Network, is a document that will serve to the FIRESPILL project as an analysis and presentation of legislation, procedures and regulations, to compare and adopt good practices of the Croatian and Italian emergency services systems. Igor Milić, Director of the Civil Protection Network presented the methodological framework and structure of the National Report to the participants of the Work Caffe. Completion of this document is planned for the end of 2021. Italian partner Abruzzo Region will produce a National report that will show Italian legislation and practices in the work of emergency services.

Overall objective of the project FIRESPILL is to enhance the capacity of Emergency Service Organizations to increase cross-border effectiveness in tackling natural and man-made disasters, decreasing the exposure of the populations to the impact of hazards and increasing the safety of the Croatian and Italian Adriatic basin by improving emergency prevention and management measures and instruments. It is co- financed from Interreg V-A Italy – Croatia CBC Programme 2014-2020.

Its implementation started in April 2020 and it ends in December 2022.