On November 22, 2023, a conference summarizing the project "ProSPeReS - Protection System for large gatherings of People in Religious Sites" was held in Lodz, Poland. The conference was attended by more than 120 people representing international institutions, i.e. the European Commission, uniformed services, religions and religious communities, scientists and security experts.
WSB University was represented by the project's research team leader Adrian Siadkowski, PhD, prof. AWSB and Łukasz Szymankiewicz, PhD.
The project, which lasted 2.5 years and was funded by the European Commission's Internal Security Fund. It was carried out by a research consortium consisting of 17 entities from 6 countries, including WSB University and the University of Lodz as the leader.
WSB University's research team actively participated in numerous work package activities. The main tasks included organizing two international conferences and preparing a guidebook for the protection of religious sites. The first conference "Challenges and Prospects of Jewish, Christian and Muslim Interfaith Dialogue" aimed at building bridges of trust and respect with neighbors of other religions. The second conference, "Current Challenges and Threats to Places of Worship in Europe," with the participation of expert representatives of various religions, addressed threats and security measures for places of worship. "Security by Design Guidebook for Religious Sites" is a conceptual proposal prepared by WSB University's research team developed on the basis of study visits conducted to religious sites belonging to different religions, located in different locations and types of buildings in Europe. The guide has been appreciated by practitioners and used to train representatives of uniformed services and religious communities during workshops within the framework of the EU - ISF "SHRINE's" project, and on December 5, 2023, it will be presented by Adrian Siadkowski, PhD, prof. AWSB at the Forum for the Protection of Public Places in Brussels, which he was invited by the European Commission to attend.
The project aims to raise the level of protection of religious sites by creating a framework for cooperation among researchers, security experts and practitioners, public services and religious institutions to prepare a comprehensive protection system. During its course, large-scale anti-terrorism exercises were conducted in Greece and Poland, workshops were held for representatives of religious communities in the Netherlands and at the Higher Theological Seminary in Lodz, a networking meeting was held in Cyprus, and a series of consortium meetings were held in Eidhoven, Athens, The Hague and Nicosia, among others.
The tangible product of the project is the development of a comprehensive system that includes measures to enhance prevention, protection, deterrence and response to various types of terrorist threats and incidents that may occur at places of worship, including attacks with CBRN agents. The measures consist of a set of customized templates, tools, procedures, equipment, infrastructure improvements and protocols for cooperation with public services. The implementation of the system has been strengthened through the preparation and initiation of modular training courses, including e-learning with VR, which is applicable to various types of education in religious structures.
Video recording of the final conference with the participation of WSB University researchers:
