On 30 November 2020, the CoE presented its workplan for the coming six months to its currently 19 members and EEAS as partner. The General Meeting took place in form of a virtual encounter, where the CoE team presented its proposed workplan and engaged in active and productive exchanges with its members.  

The Centre of Excellence defined the priority areas that it aims to focus on in the coming six months:  

1. National Systems and Frameworks 

2. Strategic Capability Development and Secondment  

3. Gender Mainstreaming and Increasing Women’s Representation 

4. Strategy and Communications  

5. Civilian CSDP-JHA Cooperation 

The way ahead 

These priority areas will be shaping the activities of the CoE for the coming months. The workplan of the CoE reflects individual commitments as set out in the Civilian CSDP Compact, and as covered in the informal NIP clusters. The emphasis will be on strategic strengthening of Civilian CSDP, specifically with a view to the emerging Strategic Compass. 

Knowledge Hub and Communications 

All information, data and knowledge created by the CoE will be provided to its members through a Knowledge Hub.  This Hub will be established on the CoE’s website and will include content in the form of documents, videos and links from different sources. The functions and content of the Knowledge Hub will create a comprehensive collection of content on Civilian Crisis Management and good practices, facilitating exchange and learning. The long-term aspiration for the Knowledge Hub is to become an extensive pool of data and information for CoE members, Civilian CSDP seconding agencies, training and research institutions, personnel in missions as well as potential secondees as well as national and international non-governmental organisations working on Civilian CSDP. 

In addition to the Knowledge Hub, the CoE also presented its Communications priorities for the coming six months. These include the relaunch of the current website with a focus on efficient usability and the establishment of the CoE as a point of reference for the wider CSDP community, the further development of connections to leading international think tanks and research institutes, and the creation of an explanatory video for potential secondees.  

Telling the Story of Civilian CSDP 

As the CoE becomes more established in the Civilian CSDP community, the Centre aims to establish a platform containing a variety of ways to engage through blogs, vlogs, podcasts, opinion pieces and video explainers. The CoE invited its members to contribute to this platform upon its implementation. 

A joint effort  

The CoE Team warmly welcomed Italy as its newest member and emphasised its anticipation to – hopefully soon – welcome all members to the Centre in Berlin for a personal encounter. Additionally, the CoE will be formally inviting NATO represented by its International Staff to take up its role as preferred partner in order to mutually benefit from respective insight and experience.   

CoE Director Volker Jacoby closed the General Meeting by expressing the Centre’s enthusiasm and excitement to work with its members on the implementation of the Compact by providing expert support and tailored solutions for all agreed priority areas.