Welcome to the CoE Knowledge Hub!

This report summarises discussions held in the second meeting of the National Governance Cluster.

The informal NIP Cluster on Human Resource Management has been launched online on 14 March 2025. This report summarises discussions.

The informal NIP Cluster on Human Resource Management conducted a hybrid seminar on capability development for addressing hybrid threats in civilian CSDP. This report summarises the seminar.

The informal NIP Cluster on National Governance has been launched online on 7 February 2025. This report summarises discussions.

The Knowledge Hub cluster portal guarantees the Cluster work is recorded and stored in one place, ensuring all relevant stakeholders have access to the same information. You will find workplans, and reports of meetings, workshops, and other Cluster activities. Additionally, relevant work on cross-cutting topics will be compiled in a dedicated section.

In 2021, the informal NIP Cluster led by Finland and Spain and supported by the European Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management (CoE), organised a series of virtual workshops where Member States and EU institutions presented examples of national and EU policies and practices to ensure equal opportunities for women and men seconded to in civilian CSDP missions and to improve gender balance. This compilation of recommendations and actions is an outcome of those workshops.

Cluster 5 virtual workshop "Strategic Communication and Women’s Representation in Civilian CSDP Missions", held on 21 June 2022, combined two important cross-cutting themes of the Civilian CSDP Compact: increasing women’s participation in civilian CSDP Missions at all levels and strategic communication, which both have a dedicated informal Cluster working group to enhance the implementation of the Compact commitments. Strategic communication has also been identified as one of the four key areas of strategic engagement in the Strategy and Action Plan to enhance women’s participation in civilian CSDP missions 2021-2024 (14885/21).

On 8 October 2021, the third Cluster 5 virtual workshop on women’s participation in civilian CSDP Missions was held focusing on work-life balance in civilian crisis management missions. It explored some of the challenges of reconciling work, private and family life, which has been identified as a barrier affecting particularly women’s opportunities and choices to seek deployment in crisis management missions. Removing barriers and promoting conducive working environment affects positively the recruitment and retention of women experts. Studies have shown that policies and practices designed to encourage work-life balance can play an important role in attracting, motivating and retaining highly skilled and diverse experts.

The third meeting of Cluster 3, chaired by Germany with the support of the European Centre of Excellence for Civilian Crisis Management (CoE), was dedicated to national communication with line ministries / JHA actors on civilian CSDP and brought together participants from 19 EU Member States (MS) and the EEAS. The workshop facilitated the exchange of challenges and good practices regarding communication strategies. Participants discussed communication messages and activities from different perspectives, in particular directly from the line ministries concerned (MoI, MoJ), as well as MFA and seconding agencies.

The third meeting of the NIP Cluster 6 took place on 28 May 2021 and discussed the Smart Mission concept, a presentation on Horizon Europe, information mapping and digital transformation initiatives in civilian missions.