Bringing volunteers together for civil protection

Photo: Michel E on Unsplash

ACCTING aims to understand the impact of Green Deal policies on vulnerable groups, prevent inequalities, and produce knowledge and innovations to advance behavioural change at individual and collective levels for an inclusive and equal European Green Deal. This bottom-up initiative was collected by Blanca Callen Moreu within ACCTING’s mapping of inspiring practice cases, within the Climate Action research Line. Read our report on all 693 mapped initiatives.

FILIOS ZEUS, Greece

Promoting social solidarity and integration

FILIOS ZEUS is a recent flagship initiative in civil protection in Archanes, Greece. It brings together volunteer groups to strengthen citizens’ awareness and involvement in civil protection, social solidarity and integration with a particular focus on disabled populations. The project assists the state organizations and authorities, such as the General Management of Civil Protection, and the Fire Brigade, by reducing the impact of natural disasters.

Deepening civil protection knowledge

The association has been developing an efficient volunteer network by bringing people together during challenging times and giving them a role in first aid, ecology and the environment. Its mission consists of increasing civil protection knowledge through networking, cooperation, training and access to expertise and useful practices. Their action fields are:

• First aid: health coverage of events and blood donations
• Search and rescue: mountain rescue, search and rescue of a missing person and wireless communication
• Natural disasters: forest protection, forest fire fighting, prevention and disaster response

In just a few months after receiving the adequate equipment, the association has been requested by state agencies to help in the following cases:

• Assist with 50 Patrol missions to protect the forests during the summer season
• Help with locating ten incidents of missing people in remote, difficult-to-access mountainous areas, in cooperation with the Natural Disasters Special Rescue Force (EMAK)
• Provide 90 health services interventions such as first aid
• Help with 50 incidents involving vulnerable social groups that are affected by mobility restrictions during lock-down; and
• Organize 40 community actions such as collecting basic goods for vulnerable population, hosting blood donation sessions, etc.

Find out more here.

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