SAFE COMMS
(EUROPEAN UNION PROJECT)

FP7 PROJECT
COUNTER-TERRORISM CRISIS COMMUNICATIONS STRATEGIES FOR RECOVERY AND CONTINUITY

Project Objectives:

The goal of the project is to help public authorities in Europe better reacting to terror crises by providing effective communication strategies for the aftermath of terror attacks. Such attacks take place when least expected, as terrorists search for vulnerable targets across Europe and seek to spread fear and panic.

A terror attack instantly becomes breaking news in the media throughout the world. Effective recovery from such an attack depends on a carefully planned and trained communication strategy which would restore public confidence and enable quick return to normality.

In order to effectively deal with the aftermath of terror attacks, public authorities need a counter-terrorism communication strategy comprised of activities aimed at the relevant audiences. This strategy needs to be trained and adapted before an attack takes place and forms an inherent part of crisis management and continuity plans. SAFE COMMS aims to provide public authorities throughout Europe with an effective and modular communication strategy for terror crises.

Description of the Work:

The first stage of the project analyses the communication challenges and problems that terror attacks present to public authorities and the requirements of media coverage of terror attacks on local, regional, national and international levels.

In the second stage of the project, four research groups explore and analyse a wide range of actual terror case studies in Northern Ireland, Spain, Greece and Israel respectively. This analysis examines the communication reactions to each attack, how authorities responded in the immediate hours after the attack, the type and scope of information provided to the media and public, emergency services’ press activities, information released about victims, communication activities aimed at reassuring the public and preventing panic and chaos, recovery activities and return to normality.

The third stage of the project then builds upon the case study analysis to develop a terrorism crisis communication strategy. The strategy will comprise short and long-term activities aimed at decreasing the effects of terror attacks on the general public.

Expected Results:

The outcome of the project will be the Terrorism Crisis Communication Manual and accompanying audiovisual training aids, aimed at easy and effective dissemination of the project’s communication strategy to public authorities throughout Europe. The Manual will be made available in three languages. Public authorities will be able to adopt relevant parts of the strategy, incorporate them into their wider crisis recovery plans and train their personnel in effective communications for terror crises. By implementing the SAFE-COMMS strategy, public authorities will be better prepared to respond effectively in case of a terror attack.

Duration of the Project: 24 Months.

PARTNERS:

• Bar Ilan University (Administrative Coordinator), Israel.
• A&B One GmbH (Media Coordinator), Germany.
• Research Institute for European and American Studies (Scientific Coordinator), Greece.
• University of Ulster, United Kingdom.
• Universidad de Burgos, Spain.
• University of Rousse Angel Kunchev, Bulgaria.