The lead partner has appointed the joint action coordinator that with an administrator and a financial manager will coordinate and monitor the joint action. A financial manager will monitor financial issues. The lead organization of each work package will appoint a work package coordinator.
The decision body of the joint action will be the general assembly. The general assembly consists of associated and collaborative partners and the work package leaders, as well as the industry representatives who will be invited ad hoc to attend as observers specific sessions in meetings, without voting rights.
The tasks of the General Assembly will be to:
Plan (long-term) and monitor the joint action activities.
Discuss recommendations derived from the sustainability working group.
Decide about dissemination and sustainability of the joint action deliverables.
Make strategic decisions for the long term planning and sustainability issues of the joint action.
The members of the general assembly will vote strategic decisions at 2/3 majority or unanimously.
The steering committee will be established consisting of the work package leaders, with the responsibilities to:
Support the coordinator in the tasks to monitor the action
Ensure interoperability of activities in all types of points of entry within the joint action, links between the core work packages, ensure that the cross cutting issues are addressed effectively in the core work packages
Solve potential conflicts among partners and among partners and external stakeholders that may arise in the joint action activities implementation.
Plan, discuss and decide on processes and on the methods that will be used for the development of deliverables.
An advisory board will be established consisting of representatives from EC DG SANTE, DG MOVE, ECDC, CHAFEA, FRONTEX, EASA, US CDC, WHO, IMO, and a scientific advisor regarding the air sector matters. Moreover, representatives from the three transport sectors industry will be invited to the advisory board as needed: maritime, air and ground crossings (IATA, ICAO, CLIA, ECSA, train and buses international ground transportation representatives).Through DG SANTE, the joint action will ask each agency/organization to appoint a focal point representative to the advisory board of the joint action. DG SANTE will liaise with the Health Security Committee as needed. The formal role of EC DG SANTE, ECDC and WHO in the advisory board will be described in the consortium agreement especially in the activation of the emergency mode of the joint action.
Industry representatives will be invited ad hoc to participate in the advisory board. The responsibilities of the advisory board will be to:
advise on technical and policy matters of the joint action
facilitate links with existing networks and structures in the EU and internationally;
contribute to the development of the joint action strategic goals;
give advice on sustainability issues and the way that joint action activities can be implemented on a sustainable basis;
provide advice on the content of documents for implementation of the joint action activities.
WHO will be involved in the joint action activities in the following aspects:
- Participate in the advisory board of the joint action
- Take part as members of the working groups that will develop the guidelines documents, the table top exercise and other materials.
- Participate as observers in the table top exercises to be conducted at a European level.
- Participate in the training courses to be conducted at a European level.
In addition to the above, the joint action will use the materials produced by WHO for event management, as well as the training materials for event management and any other material. Moreover, the joint action will cooperate with PAGNET and share, disseminate information of the joint action, as well as the materials disseminated by PAGNET. Joint training courses will be organised among the WHO and the joi
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A stakeholder analysis incorporating methods of SWOT analysis at the onset of the joint action will be conducted to define what the needs of the stakeholders are, and how would they like to be involved in the project. Moreover, the stakeholder analysis will have the purpose to explore how the joint action outputs will better be accepted and be compatible with the social, cultural and political context of the different actors in the participating countries. The stakeholder analysis will describe knowledge/culture/views of target groups giving information on how the products can be acceptable.
At the beginning of the project a dissemination plan will be developed, defining the strategy purpose: raising awareness, engaging and obtaining input, feedback from the community, promoting joint action products, outputs and results, informing and educating the community, and making the outputs sustainable. The plan will further define the purpose, messages, and will describe the target groups based on their level of interest. Moreover, it will also describe the internal rules for consistency in dissemination and feedback, and dissemination activities monitoring and evaluation methods. The included activities will be implemented throughout the project.
The dissemination plan will include two levels of dissemination: European and national level and will be elaborated in the dissemination plan. The strategy will target audience through European Commission DGs, Health Ministries, Public health institutes, EWRS, IHR NFP, PoE professionals, professional associations, transport sector owners association through DG MOVE, ensuring guidelines and activities adoption. Based on the dissemination strategy, national dissemination plans will be developed, implemented and monitored by each partner adapted to the national target groups in their countries.
National dissemination plans will identify as a minimum (i) target groups and their contact details at national and regional level, (ii) conferences, workshops and collaborative events at national level where the joint action deliverables could be presented, (iii) publication means (articles, newsletter etc.) at national level where the joint action deliverables could be advocated the relevant stakeholders. The national dissemination plans should be linked with the national sustainability plans (see work package 4).
A dissemination team will be established operating under the work package leader to ensure the continuous management, monitoring and evaluation of dissemination activities, to organize the production of material, to create the tools and coordinate various joint events, to handle the involvement of and communication of information to end-user communities and ensure the visibility of EU funding during dissemination activities. Work package leaders and participants will manage collaboration on, and dissemination of work package’s products and work on a per-incident case. All dissemination efforts will be closely monitored on a regular basis and be captured via a continuous update of a publishable summary available also in the Participant Portal.
At least one national activity for dissemination will be organised at each country, where all local stakeholders will be invited and informed about the joint action activities. Certain deliverables will be translated into languages of the EU countries and content will be adapted to the target audience as needed and requested by the EU countries.
The dissemination means to be used include the following: the joint action web portal (member/public areas, based on posting highlights, news, newsletter, publications and all publically available deliverables), bimonthly e-newsletters (progress update, news from partners, industry, website, hot issue, outbreaks, scientific meetings, partner’s background, contribution), publication of promotional material (leaflets, posters, press releases), reports, scientific manuscripts, articles in other media and
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Evaluation is an integral process of the joint action. The evaluation processes to be followed will allow for a review and a process and effect evaluation of a) the results achieved against the aims (in terms of activities/products) and b) the means to achieve these results in relation to the agreed budget. The evaluation processes aim at:
Monitoring the joint action development
Attainment of joint action objectives
Assessing the joint action effectiveness
Contributing to the continuous improvement of the joint action quality
Assessing the joint action overall outcome
Assessing the joint action strengths / weaknesses in relation to opportunities and threats
An evaluation plan will be developed using a logic framework method. In particular, the evaluation plan will describe purpose, questions, study design, method, measurement instruments, and the task, responsibilities and timing of the evaluation.
All joint action activities will be evaluated at various stages of the joint action. Progress evaluation will be conducted to assess progress towards the project objectives, milestones and identifying unexpected developments; outcome evaluation will assess whether the project resulted in demonstrable effects on specifically defined outcomes; impact evaluation will assess intended, unintended and long-term effects; and cost-effectiveness and cost-benefit analysis will assess efficiency by comparing outcomes to costs. Stakeholders including joint action partners, users of joint action outputs, industry transport sectors, representatives from all target groups including professionals from public sectors at local, regional, national, European and International level will be involved in the evaluation process and credible evidence for the joint action effects on them will be gathered (see target groups in §2.2).
The evaluation plan will include "SMART" indicators (process, output and outcomes/impact) chosen per specific objective, including target values. Specific indicators regarding dissemination and joint action management are included. Process, output and outcome indicators will be assessed referring specific target values (see §2.2), directly linked to the specific objectives to measure the performance of the joint action and the level to which the objectives are reached.
The tools for collecting evidence will be quantitative (questionnaires, surveys, records of joint action activities, web server logs) and qualitative (structured or unstructured, expert opinions), involving external SWOT analysis (from an independent expert not being part of the joint action consortium).
The independent expert will be subcontracted to perform the SWOT analysis for the joint action deliverables and activities.
Evaluation teams will be established including the work package leader, coordinator, industry representative and experts from the public sector depending on the activity. At the start, evaluation will assess the stakeholders’ views and measure baseline data for the impact evaluation. Process evaluation will take place in parallel with joint action activities to improve the work in progress and increase the likelihood of joint action success. Outcome and impact evaluation will take place at an interim time and at the end of the joint action. After month 24, impact indicators measures will be assessed to evaluate outcomes. The conclusions from evaluation at all stages of the joint action will be shared with the joint action consortium and depending on the results decisions will be taken to improve performance and impact. Interim and the final evaluation reports will be produced.
A working group will be established with the task to design and implement the evaluation strategy, where the work package leaders will participate and the evaluators. The evaluation plan and the results of the evaluation will be presented by the coordinator to the advisory board, with the purpose to receive advice/guidance for improvements and any adjust
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A sustainability plan will be developed including: a) objectives and analysis of the benefits from the joint action results/deliverables integration in policies; b) analysis of the activities that will be implemented at a national level only and of the activities that need to be facilitated at a European level; c) options/scenarios for the entity/organisation which will undertake the responsibility/use of the deliverables that need facilitation of implementation at national and EU level; d) analysis of costs and potential income of the joint action activities and how these will be used to recover the costs of the countries activities; e) documents that are necessary for the continuity of activities (e.g. statute of legal entity-NGO, outline of Ministerial Circulars); f) a model national sustainability plan which will be then adapted and implemented at a national level by the partners.
Associated and collaborative partners will develop their own national sustainability plans considering the model plan included in the joint action sustainability plan. They will provide reports to the work package 4 leader on the progress of National sustainability plans implementation. The national sustainability plans should be linked with the national dissemination plans (see work package 2).
The national sustainability plans will include: a) the results/deliverables for integration in national/regional/local policies (e.g. MoU for local competent authorities agreement of cooperation for responding to public health events, table top /simulation exercise, contingency plans, training courses integration to national context); b) the ways of integration at national/regional/local levels; c) the policy makers or other stakeholders to be involved in the joint action activities at an earlier stage of the joint action to increase the potential for national adoption of deliverables and the description of their involvement; d) timetable of implementation of the national sustainability plan and task distribution; e) the legal documents to be produced for the adoption of deliverables (e.g. Ministerial circulars, decisions of associations, best practice guidelines etc.) at national/regional/local levels. The national sustainability plans incorporate a table to monitor the update progress on the core capacities as described in the Indicators – Points of Entry (PoE) of the WHO. The core capacities to be monitored as those that the joint action facilitates with their implementation, i.e. “Inspection program to ensure safe environment at PoE facilities functioning. A functioning programme for the control of vectors and reservoirs in and near PoE exists (Annex 1b, Art. 1e). Regular updating and testing of national public health emergency contingency plan with published reports. Trained personnel for the inspection of conveyances are available at designated PoE (Annex 1b, Art. 1c). Evaluation and publication of effectiveness in responding to PH Events at PoE”.
A sustainability working group will be established lead by the work package 4 leader with members the leaders of the other work package and ad hoc invited experts, policy maker representatives from the countries and the industry. The industry representatives will be invited on an ad hoc basis in certain sessions of the sustainability working group meetings that industry input would be important. Efforts will be made so that all three types of the sectors (air, maritime, ground transport) will be represented in the sustainability activities.
The sustainability working group will ensure that the deliverables related to the preparedness plans will be incorporated to the national activities for interoperability of preparedness plans according to Art 4, Decision 1082/2013. The sustainability working group will explore if the European Programme for Critical Infrastructure Protection (EPCIP) could be relevant and linked with the joint action activities. Moreover, it will explore how the current legal fra
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Lead beneficiaries: NIPH-NIH-PL and NVSC-LT

A working group consisting of technical experts in matters related to ground crossings will be established.
A State of the art report will be produced answering the following questions:
A) What are the ground crossings and the volumes of persons and goods transported to the EU countries from non EU countries, EFTA countries, candidate countries and other countries?
B) What is the legal framework for implementing health measures at ground crossings in the EU and EFTA countries (IHR, Schengen treaty, other relevant EU legislation, national legal frameworks in the EU countries and EFTA countries etc.)?
C) What are the lessons learned from previous public health events relevant to ground crossings and from previous projects (REACT project studies, EVD PHEIC, European migrant crisis) that should to be considered by the countries in developing core capacities at ground crossings and responding to public health events? How the official ground crossings relate with the “unofficial ground crossings” that are used by migrants to enter EU countries?
D) What are the needs for the EU countries in regards to the ground crossing core capacities?
E) What is the role of ground crossings in invasive mosquito species dispersal?
F) What are the best practices on core capacities implementation at ground crossings for event detection, surveillance and management and contingency planning in EU and worldwide? What are the most important ground crossings in the EU that core capacities for responding to public health events should be developed and maintained?
Three site visits of the coordinators of work package 5 will be conducted to key-countries with external EU borders, to assist the situation analysis.
A legal advisor will be subcontracted to assist in the development of the state of the art report in regards to the legal framework and the vector control. Authorities dealing with vector surveillance from entomological departments will be consulted.
This work package will coordinate the development of training material to be used for the face-to-face training course titled “Preparedness and response to public health events at ground crossings” that will be organised under the work package 9. The work package 9 will be responsible for coordinating the organization and implementation of the face-to-face training course for ground crossings. If the learning packages of WHO for management of public health events at ground crossings and for vector surveillance are available, they will be modified to fit the EU context. The technical subject matter experts of work package 5 will cooperate with the work package 9 training experts for the development of the learning package and for the implementation of training courses.
A tool for contingency plan development and assessment for ground crossings will be developed based on best practice identification results and expert group contribution. A 1st version of this tool will be produced after considering pilot testing results at two countries using different event scenarios for health threats including infectious diseases, chemical agents and vectors. The technical subject matter experts will cooperate with the work package 8 and work package 9 to produce the tool for contingency plan development and assessment and the pilot testing design methods and implementation. The countries participating in the joint action will apply the version 1 of the tool for contingency plan development and assessment for ground crossings and report their feedback to be considered by the working group, which will then produce the version 2 which will be the final deliverable.
A table top /simulation exercise for ground crossings will be developed by the expert working group for ground crossing, with the support from the staff of work package 9 and will be executed by the partner countries that have the most important ground crossings for the EU. Three table top /s
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Lead beneficiaries: UKE-DE and FOHM-SE

An expert working group will be established that will contribute to the development of deliverables of the work package 6, involving both the private and public sectors.
A survey will be conducted among the partner countries to identify best practices on core capacities implementation at airports, event detection, surveillance and management, contingency planning, inspection of aircraft for vectors and the current legal framework and practices for contact tracing of public health events at airplanes (legislation for contact tracing and sharing of passenger names and contact details from airlines in case of a communicable disease threat).
The task to identify the current legal framework and practices for contact tracing and draft recommendations for legal framework for information sharing about contact tracing will be subcontracted to an external legal expert.
The technical content of the training material to be used for the face-to-face training course titled “Preparedness and response to public health events at airports” that will be organised under the work package 9 will be developed or the existing learning package of WHO for management of public health events at airports and for vector surveillance (if available in 2018) will be modified to fit the EU context (e.g. pesticides licensed in the EU countries). The technical subject matter experts of work package 6 will cooperate with the work package 9 training experts for the development of the learning package and implementation of training courses. This work package will coordinate the development of training material. The work package 9 will be responsible for coordinating the organization and implementation of the face-to-face training course for airports.
A tool for contingency plan development and assessment for airports will be developed based on best practice identification results and considering the existing guidance from WHO, CAPSCA, ICAO, IATA and version 1 will be produced in view of pilot testing results at two countries using different event scenarios for health threats including infectious diseases, chemical agents and vectors. The technical subject matter experts will cooperate with the work package 8 and 9 for the production of the tool for contingency plan development and assessment and the pilot testing design methods and implementation. The countries participating in the joint action will apply the Version 1 of the tool for contingency plan development and assessment for airports and report their feedback to be considered by the working group, which will then produce the version 2 which will be the final deliverable.
A table top /simulation exercise for event management at airports Version 1 will be developed by the expert working group using existing tools and materials produced through the AIRSAN with the support from the staff of work package 9. Each country will implement the table top /simulation exercise for event management at airports in as many designated airports as possible and produced reports from the validation of the national and local plans, as well as feedback to improve the table top /simulation exercise.
A model MoU will be developed including the rules of cooperation among the different competent authorities at airports at local level that need to be involved in the response of public health events, as described in the WHO tool for joint external evaluation.
SOPs for specific vector surveillance and control activities at airports for implementation of integrated vector control programme will be developed based on the WHO and ECDC guidelines for vector surveillance and control at points of entry. Vector surveillance programmes will be identified by each partner for the own country (if any) and incorporation of the SOPs as needed and can be applied in the national/local context will be ensured. SOPs for inspection of aircraft for vectors and guidelines for focused inspections of aircr
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An expert working group will be established that will contribute to the development of deliverables of the work package 7, involving both the private and public sectors.
A survey will be conducted among the partner countries to identify best practices on core capacities implementation at ports, event detection, surveillance and management and contingency planning.
The technical content of the training material will be developed or the existing learning package of WHO for management of public health events at ports and for vector surveillance will be modified to fit the EU context (if available in 2018). The technical subject matter experts of this work package will cooperate with the work package 9 training experts for the development of the learning package and implementation of training courses.
A tool for contingency plan development and assessment will be developed based on best practice identification results and considering the existing guidance from WHO, and will be finalised in view of pilot testing results at two countries using different event scenarios for health threats, including infectious diseases, chemical agents and vectors. The technical subject matter experts of this work package will cooperate with the work package 8, and 9 for the development of the tool for contingency plan development and assessment and the pilot testing design methods and implementation. The countries participating in the joint action will apply the version 1 of the tool for contingency plan development and assessment for airports and report their feedback to be considered by the working group, which will then produce the version 2 which will be the final deliverable.
A table top /simulation exercise Version 1 for event management at ports will be developed by the expert working group with the support from the staff of work package 9 and will be executed by the partner countries at their national level. Each country will implement the table top /simulation exercise for event management at ports in as many designated ports as possible and will be executed by the partner countries produced reports from the validation of the national and local plans, as well as feedback to improve the table top /simulation exercise.
A model MoU will be developed including the rules of cooperation among the different competent authorities in ports at local level that need to be involved in the response of public health events. Then the EU countries will adopt in their national local framework.
SOPs for specific vector surveillance and control activities at ports for implementation of an integrated vector control programme will be developed, based on the WHO and ECDC guidelines for vector surveillance and control at points of entry. Vector surveillance programmes will be identified by each partner for their own country (if any) and will ensure that incorporation of the SOPs as needed and can be applied in the national/local context will be ensured.
This work package will use existing work conducted under the joint action SHIPSAN ACT that is relevant to preparedness and management of public health at ports and on ships. The training courses available at the SHIPSAN ACT training platform will be updated (e-learning for port health officers) and be offered for use to the target audiences.
Best practice for inspection auditing and for inspecting conveyances for vectors will be identified and based on this, auditing guidelines will be developed.
A common inspection schedule based on target factor (giving priorities to ferries and inland navigation vessels, considering historical inspection results) at an EU level will be composed and agreed by all participating authorities. Inspection findings will be shared among authorities in the updated SHIPSAN ACT information system. Auditing of inspections according to best practice protocols will take place at ports. To improve and motivate compliance with the European inspection standards, ships receiving grade
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Lead beneficiaries: DH-UK and NIJZ-SI

Chemical incidents can have serious and long-lasting health consequences. The overall aim of Work package 8 is to address health threats posed by chemicals at PoE through increased awareness of and adherence to, the requirements set out in EU Decision 1082/2013 on Serious Cross Border Threats to Health and the International Health Regulations (IHR), 2005. For developing the proposed activities, work already undertaken by a previous EU funded contract (SHIPSAN Joint Action) will be considered. Guidance and training material for ports, airports and ground crossings will be produced to support Member States (MSs) in planning, preparing and coordinating action to respond to cross-border chemical health threats.
Inception phase
During the inception phase detailed information will be gathered on the roles and responsibilities of MS organisations with respect to chemicals at PoE. These organisations/individuals may be different from those who deal with communicable disease.
To supplement information gathered during the inception phase, two workshops will be organised, to identify gaps, opportunities and raise awareness of best practice for chemicals at all points of entry. One workshop will focus specifically on strategic points (cross-border chemical health threats, chemical incident preparedness) and the other will address operational points (chemical safety regarding containers transported across PoE).
Workshop 1
This workshop will address, at a national level, the plans for preparedness and action for dealing with a chemical incident at all Points of Entry. This includes the importance of having chemical plans and response arrangements in place to deal with chemical incidents (in-line with IHR core capacity on preparedness plans). Attendees will include chemical focal points designated by National Focal Points and representatives from competent authorities working at ports, airports and ground crossings.
Workshop 2
This workshop will focus on chemical safety, particularly with regards to chemical containers at ports and ground crossings. This will include public health issues surrounding chemical containers and transport of chemicals. Attendees will include staff who work at ground crossings and ports who deal with chemical containers on a regular basis.
Both workshops will improve understanding of existing arrangements in Member States.
Information obtained from these workshops (gaps and needs analysis) will be used as the basis for developing training materials to be used in EU Member States to train staff on chemical safety and preparedness to chemical incidents at PoE. Selected outcomes may be applied to ground crossings and airports e.g. training materials arising from the workshop could be piloted in the horizontal work package on ground crossings, by testing the material in a Member State.
Development of guidance, training materials and assessment tools to support implementation of Decision 1082 and IHR
Informed by the inception phase, a specific guidance document detailing the management of chemicals and chemical incidents at airports and ground crossings will be produced.
The guidance will detail the obligations for chemical preparedness and action under EU Decision 1082/2013 on cross-border threats to health and will reinforce the MS requirements and in-line with the IHR (2005), including IHR core capacities concerning the preparedness detection, assessment, notification and reporting of chemical incidents. Furthermore the guidance and subsequent training material will facilitate enhanced coordination and collaboration between authorities with PoE chemical responsibility and national ministries, agencies, industry and other stakeholders - a key aim of IHR.
The guidance would need to cover all PoE and be sufficiently generic enough to be used by those working at ports, airports and ground crossings. It could also contain recommendations produced from the workshops described a
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A tool will be developed to be used by the countries to create a risk profile for points of entry. Version 1 of the tool will be pilot-tested in one country and results will be used to develop Version 2. With the second version of this tool, countries can determine which points of entry have the highest risk.
Guidelines for improving event detection and surveillance of public health events at ports, airports and ground crossings will be developed. Specific options will be given for integrating PoE surveillance to the national surveillance system. These guidelines will be based on the WHO and ECDC guidelines and best practice identified in work package 5,6,7 and should be adapted to be applied in the EU context. The work package 9 will be responsible for the coordination of the development of the guidelines, while the work package 5,6,7 will provide input for the development of the guidelines.
Training
This work package will coordinate the conduct of training courses. Moreover, this work package will support the technical teams (work package 5,6,7,8) in developing a web based training resource catalogue with training materials and tabletop /simulation exercises, by ensuring highly quality of delivery and appropriate methods (e.g. principles of adult learning and inter-professional education).
In this respect, WP 9 will explore innovative learning methods, for example e-learning and serious games. The innovative learning methods will be integrated in the training resource catalogue where possible and appropriate.
The training courses based on the guidelines to be produced will contribute to influence national policies considering the cultural and geographic context in order to increase competence and capacity for risk assessment, decision-making and crisis communication. The training courses will address issues of decision making for implementing health measures that are evidence based and proportionate to the health risks by avoiding excessive health measures. Good and bad practices will be defined considering past public health events and lessons learned. Training will also focus on how public health authorities should inform the decision makers.
E-learning courses will be developed (work package 9 coordinates) where necessary with support of the technical content experts working in work package 5,6,7,8. The target group for the training courses will be professionals responsible for event management at ground crossings, airports, ports respectively. The target group for the training courses at national level will be professionals responsible for event management at PoE. All participants enrolled in the training should go through the e-learning before attending the face-to-face training course. Work package 9 will provide guidance to MS in who should be invited to attend the training course. The face-to-face training courses will also deliver training on how to organise and deliver a table top/simulation exercises.
Where available, existing WHO learning packages (face-to-face and e-learning) for event management at PoE will be used and adopted to the European context, instead of creating new training materials.
The following table presents the training of the trainers’ 3 day face-to-face training courses to be organised.
Subject Number Month Location Tasks
Material development coordination Course coordination
Preparedness and response to public health events at ground crossings 1 M20 Poland NIPH-NIH-PL RIVM-NL
Preparedness and response to public health events at airports 1 M11 Serbia UKE-DE and FOHM-SE RIVM-NL
Preparedness and response to public health events at ports 1 M8 Hamburg UTH-EL RIVM-NL
Vector surveillance and control at PoE 1 M19 Croatia UTH-EL RIVM-NL
National level
Preparedness and response to public health events at ground crossings
Preparedness and response to public health events at airports
Preparedness and response to public health events at ports
Vector surveillance and control at Po
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