Cross-Border Virtual Reality System of Preparedness for Disaster Prevention and Intervention

CBVRS conception is a result of cross-border field cooperation background existing between Timis, Arad and Csongrad - Csanad counties and local public authorities and associations, and further supports, complements and facilitates Romanian – Hungarian emergency situations field cross-border cooperation as pivotal approach to foster the implementation of actions designed to promote climate change adaptation and disaster risk prevention. This project turns its focus upon following financing Programme types of actions: - Identification of innovative joint solutions to support disaster management (IT tools, VR, mobile apps, etc.); - Strengthening resiliency of national/regional/county authorities, through a harmonized and standardized approach (joint solutions). - Increase the preparedness and resilience of communities against storms, floods, fires and droughts (information and awareness raising events), including youth involvement and gender mainstreaming in civil protection joint actions; CBVRS OO: Increasing capacity and efficiency of the emergency services and risk prevention (both climate and non-climate related) through cooperation and incorporation of usual and ICT training methods for disaster preparation, intervention and relief, enhanced by sustainable applications, enabling Virtual Training System and Community of Timis, Arad, Csongrad - Csanad Counties emergency situations professional and volunteer staff, volunteers, public authorities, youth and generally speaking CB citizens. CBVRS SO: Consolidation of disaster preparation and management capabilities by purchasing and making available fire simulation equipment ( for youth training activities), as well as specialized hardware & software applications ( VR Trainer Simulators, VR Command Simulators, AR devices with instructor-assisted scenarios) enabling virtual training module of professional (Emergency Situations Inspectorates) and volunteer (Volunteer Service for Emergency Situations under Local Public Administrations) intervention staff, of volunteers and generally speaking civilians from Timis, Arad and Csongrad-Csanad Counties; Increasing the level of training and skills of youth, professional and volunteer staff in the Timis, Arad, Csongrad - Csanad envisaged CB cooperation area; Integration and use of project social media platform as digital engine to market for financing program and authorities, project vision and its key messages; Subsidy contract adequate and sustainable execution. CBVRS output - Partnership - has been built on involving institutions with large experience in project management and coordination, capable to have an euro - regional (DKMT), as well as inter-sectorial coverage (ADIVEST) with implementing capacity, directly responsible for the issues addressed by the project. This balanced mix of PPs owns all the necessary competences to implement the planned activities and to provide project sustainability, durability and transferability of results. CVBRS output – Impact - is constructed on major deliverables and gathers: 30 CB training events with 900 youth participations and 12 CB VR and AR training sessions with 120 staff trained. CVBRS output – Joint Field Solutions - 1 set of VR and AR set of training equipment, 1 set of youth fire training equipment, 1 Manual & 1 handbook for youth training performance, 1 virtual assisted Training Program for intervention staff debated over 6 online consultative meetings inside of 1 thematic group – CB VIRTUAL COMMUNITY TRAINING, 1 Project and field digital marketing / visibility campaign, 2 Project decision making forums constitution, 8 PIC and PJSC online meetings, 3 Project Plans - Management, Quality and Communication. CBVRS shares Programme vision and contributes directly to the transformation of CB region of Romania and Hungary into a more greener, resilient and cohesive region. Project vision is thus to improve CB resilience and cooperation between emergency situations stakeholders, based on original and innovative VR and AR assisted training multi - beneficial core advantages: Learning Outcomes - Improve skill retention and recall - Develop situational awareness and decision-making skills - Accelerate learning and improve focus - Increase confidence in practical application - Learn to train in teams with multi-user capability, including two hose crews, second firefighter, incident controller, observer roles Organizational Compliance - Prepare for situations that cannot be replicated in the real-world - Reduce travel costs to training centres - Improve compliance reporting with online data and analytics platform Accessibility - On demand training, unlimited capacity - Portable and easy to set up - Reduced disruption to work - Health and Safety - Combat skills fade - No risk to life - No carcinogen exposure - Reduction in training accidents Environmental - No Water Consumption - No PFAS Contamination - No Co2 Emissions.

Within the above mentioned period, following the successful conclusion of the Project Subsidy Contract, LP1 Cofinancing Contract, LP1 Advance Payment Request and PP2 Advance Payment Request at national level, both project partners turned their focus on initiating project management and carrying out the necessary administrative activities needed for project technical and financial implementation. To achieve the project's ambitious goals, it is essential to ensure efficient and effective coordination among all partners. This responsibility lies with LP ADIVEST, the designated project coordinator, which will act as an intermediary and provide the overall coordination framework for the partnership. The coordination structure is already functional, working under a joint approved procedure and composed of two main bodies: Project Implementation Committee (PIC) – formed by all project team members and responsible for the day-to-day implementation of the project activities. Project Joint Steering Committee (PJSC) – composed of the legal representatives of each partner, tasked with endorsing project decisions and overseeing strategic direction. As stipulated within the approved Application Form, Activity 1.1 CBVRS ENDOWMENT and Activity 1.3 CBVRS MONITORING AND SUSTAINABILITY, were already started by the project partnership. Within the above mentioned period, following the successful conclusion of the Project Subsidy Contract, LP1 Co financing Contract, LP1 Advance Payment Request and PP2 Advance Payment Request at national level, both project partners turned their focus on initiating project management and carrying out the necessary administrative activities needed for project technical and financial implementation. As stipulated within the approved Application Form, Activity 1.1 CBVRS ENDOWMENT and Activity 1.3 CBVRS MONITORING AND SUSTAINABILITY, were already started by the project partnership. Main actions within current reporting period are: - Drafting, submission to the JEMS platform on 01.07.2025 and subsequent approval by the Joint Secretariat of project notification no. 1, regarding the modification of the budget of the DKMT partner; DKMT will use part of its own budget (8,000 euros) from the budget for external expertise to co-opt an external expert in carrying out public procurement; the contracted amount for the procurement expert will be deducted from the amount available in the DKMT budget for organizing project events, the total budget of DKMT not undergoing any changes; - Drafting and submission to the JEMS Platform on 10.07.2025 of DKMT partner report no. 1, relating to the period 17.03.2025 - 16.06.2025; - Drafting and submission to the JEMS Platform on 07.08.2025 of ADIVEST partner report no. 1, relating to the period 17.03.2025 - 16.06.2025; - Drafting, submission to the JEMS Platform on 20.08.2025 of the consolidated report no. 1 of the project, relating to the period 17.03.2025 - 16.06.2025; - In-house design and obtaining visual identity approval on 14.08.2025 for the mandatory project info-promotion materials, in Romanian and English: project contact sheet for the website, project presentation for the website, poster version 1 for project visibility at the headquarters, poster version 2 for project visibility at the headquarters; - Project communication plan, English language, version 1, drafted and submitted on 20.08.2025 for verification, amendment and approval by the DKMT partner; the plan will be ratified during next PJSC online meeting; - On 03.07.2025, the technical teams designated by ISU Arad and ISU Timiș validated the minimum technical specifications for the equipment planned by the project; Subsequently, ADIVEST developed, starting from the models agreed by ANAP, the entire specific procurement documentation, including the procurement forms, contract models, final specifications and contracting strategy; the final procurement documentation was validated with the ISUs Arad and Timiș on 01.08.2025; the procurement is to be carried out in two lots, according to a contracting and delivery schedule established in such a way that the amounts settled and reimbursed for the first lot of equipment allow the payment of the equipment delivered for the second lot; - For Lot 1, the procedure was launched on 08.08.2025, through CN1084376 Participation notice, 521107-2025 - TED, deadline for submission of offers being 09.09.2025; - For Lot 2, the procedure was launched on 08.08.2025, through CN1084376 Participation notice, 521107-2025 - TED, deadline for submission of offers being 09.09.2025; - DKMT conducted a procurement procedure for the engagement of the procurement expert. As a result of this procedure, the procurement expert was contracted; the contracted entity is Nagymihály Ügyvédi Iroda (Nagymihály Law Office). Following the contract signature, preparations commenced for the procurement of fire simulation equipment, in line with the currently effective AF. At this stage, the estimated value of the equipment is being determined. The public procurement procedure for the fire simulation equipment is expected to be launched during October 2025. Activity 1.1 CBVRS ENDOWMENT: ADIVEST Equipment and Software for Virtual Training Lot 2 - EMERGENCY AND DISASTER INTERVENTION COMMAND SIMULATION PLATFORM (3 licenses), INCLUDING each a minimum of 3 HIGH-RESOLUTION VIRTUAL AND AUGMENTED REALITY DEVICES FOR THE REPRODUCTION OF COMPLEX INSTRUCTOR-ASSISTED SCENARIOS; the procedure was launched on 08.08.2025, through CN1084376 Participation notice, 521107-2025 - TED, deadline for submission of offers being 09.09.2025; The contract was signed on 14th of October 2025; delivery, training, reception and operation was finished in 15.12.2025. Total direct cost paid was 707.104.64 lei. At DKMT level, related to fire simulation equipment, a second public procurement procedure was launched on 18 November 2025. In this round, a valid bid was received, allowing DKMT to proceed to the contract award phase. Contract was awarded on 16.12.2025, its value being 94.383,00 Euro. The contract was later signed on 13.01.2026. Delivery of the equipment is foreseen for May 2026. For Activity 1.2 CBVRS PREPAREDNESS AND RAISING AWARENESS: Terms of references for the support services to be contracted by ADIVEST in the first semester of 2026 are under formulation. The first support services type to be contracted is project digital marketing services. For activity 1.3, the following actions were carried out: The project coordination structure is already functional, operating on the basis of a common procedure, approved during the first electronic project meeting, and composed of two main bodies: the Project Implementation Committee (PIC) – consisting of all project team members and responsible for the daily implementation of project activities; the Project Joint Steering Committee (PJSC) – composed of the legal representatives of each partner, tasked with approving project decisions and overseeing the strategic direction. Partner Reports no. 3 were formulated and submitted in JEMS, ADIVEST R3 on 24.12.2025, DKMT R3 on 23.12.2025. Project Plans (3) were developed throughout the period and later approved within 3 online PJSC meetings finalized on 16.03.2026. Project overall communication was conducted by project partnership. A compilation with the approved visual identity materials and publication links is attached to this report.