National Workshop Slovenia
In preparation for the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Assessment (PHEPA)
Background
The National Workshop is part of a service contract procured by HaDEA on behalf of the European Commission. The acronym “EPIC11” (i.e., Emergency Preparedness Integrated Courses carried out under Article 11) was coined to facilitate the referencing to this service contract during project implementation. EPIC11 focuses on the provision of Prevention, Preparedness and Response (PPR) trainings for Serious Cross-Border Threats to Health (SCBTH) in EU Member States and in European Economic Area (EEA) countries. The EPIC11 project was devised in response to the European Health and Digital Executive Agency (HaDEA) and Directorate-General for Health and Food Safety (DG SANTE) call for tenders HADEA/2022/OP/0017 on ‘EU preparedness: analysis, planning, reporting and training programmes for health specialists.
One of the operational objectives is to strengthen PPR planning with targeted training and knowledge-exchange activities for healthcare and public health staff (Article 11 of the regulation).
The aim of the EPIC11 project is to develop an EU Health Preparedness Training Programme that responds to the needs of PPR planners, managers and practitioners, and which addresses current gaps in EU Member States and EEA countries in relation to PPR planning. This EU Health Preparedness Training Programme complements existing training programmes developed and managed by ECDC, WHO, and the EC’s policy departments (DGs), such as SANTE, HERA, ECHO and others, as well as joint actions, various EU-level projects, universities, training institutes and national institutions.
EPIC11 is implemented by GFA Consulting Group GmbH (DE) and its partners: KIT Royal Tropical Institute (NL), and Think Modular (AT).
The overall project vision is to strengthen PPR capacities for future public health emergencies within and across countries through training. The EU Health Preparedness Training Programme will support EU Member States and EEA countries to:
- Build knowledge and skills for more resilient emergency management; and
- Strengthen communication, collaboration and coordination within and between countries.
The foundation of the EU Health Preparedness Training Programme will be based on a multi-hazard approach to health threats in a cross-sectoral and cross-border setting, focussing on serious cross-border threats to health.
This concept note describes the National Workshop in Slovenia, which will take place in Ljubljana, Slovenia (14-15 October 2025). The National Workshop will focus on preparing the Public Health Emergency Preparedness Assessment (PHEPA) of PPR capacities under Article 8 of the SCBTH regulation and all-hazards preparedness and response plan. The PHEPA is based on the 16 capacities in the PPR report module, aiming to align self-assessment with an “external perspective,” contributing to improved planning for prevention, preparedness and response to public health emergencies in EU Member States and EEA countries.
The report from these external evaluations in each Member State identifies areas of good practices and provides recommendations for improving specific areas. Within nine months of receiving the PHEPA evaluation report, the country must develop an action plan addressing the recommendations proposed in the PHEPA evaluation and, to some extent, prepare for the next evaluation cycle, scheduled every three years.
Aims and Objectives
National Workshops are part of the deliverables under the EPIC11 project and aim to foster national discussions on the implementation of the regulation (EU) 2022/2371 on SCBTH as well as to strengthen preparedness planning and response. Specifically, National Workshops provide an opportunity for EU Member States to:
- Become familiar with the new regulation (EU) 2022/2371 on SCBTH and what it means for their activities;
- Learn more about existing PPR plans and operating procedures from different sectors;
- Involve national multisectoral stakeholders in tailoring the preparedness planning process;
- Discuss and agree on ways of working across different sectors; and
- Identify training needs and discuss how to address them.
From 16 to 20 March 2026, Slovenia will undergo the PHEPA Assessment under Article 8 of the SCBTH Regulation. To support this process, the National Workshop on PHEPA preparation will bring together experts and staff from the various sectors and networks involved in submitting international assessment forms, such as e-SPAR and PPR (Article 7), and drafting the national PPR plans. This workshop aims to enhance understanding of the European and international assessment instruments for PPR, focusing on the practices supporting self-assessment, reporting and the planning of external assessments. It will provide an overview of the 16 core capacities implied in PHEPA, covering more in-depth public health emergency management, surveillance, laboratory, antimicrobial resistance and the provision of health services, focusing on hospital preparedness and general preparedness and response plans.
The workshop will focus on the overall external assessment process and outcomes, on hospital preparedness, general preparedness and response plans, discussions on implementing the new EU Health Security Framework and how to tailor the national PPR planning accordingly. The National Workshop aims to strengthen collaborative and comprehensive preparedness and promote coordinated actions within Slovenia, drawing from the experiences of other EU Member States.
Specifically, the objectives of the National Workshop are:
- To strengthen coordination and collaboration in PPR planning from a multi-stakeholder perspective.
- To raise awareness and create a shared understanding between different involved stakeholders around the outcomes of the PHEPA in March 2026 and prepare for the assessment, with a focus on the capacities that will be assessed in depth (3, 4, 6, 12 and 11).
- To identify gaps, challenges and opportunities of the PPR in preparation for the PHEPA and the action plan foreseen.
- To discuss the basic requirements for preparedness and response all-hazards plans with the focal points of the different involved stakeholders.
This National Workshop is organised and hosted by the Slovenian Ministry of Health (MoH) and the National Institute of Public Health (NIPH) with support from EPIC11. The objectives and methodology of the National Workshop were discussed and endorsed by the host organisation. The aims, programme and methodology, including terminology used in this document, reflect the preferences of the host organisation.
Date and location
The two-day workshop will be hosted in Ljubljana, Slovenia, at Hotel Slon, Slovenska cesta 34.The workshop will take place on 14-15 October 2025.
Workshop format
The National Workshop will be conducted face-to-face with possible online presentations to the plenary and is structured to combine concise plenary sessions with focused working group discussions. Before the event, a list of preparatory materials (see below as topic no.7) will be shared to the participants to ensure they are familiar with foundational concepts in advance. The plenary sessions will provide participants with an overview of the new EU Health Security Framework, the supporting regulations' implications and the PHEPA assessment's specific requirements. Presentations will also include insights from previous PHEPA implementations, as well as an overview of WHO obligations (IHR, SPAR and JEE) and updates on PPR planning in Slovenia. This approach ensures that all participants start with a uniform understanding of the subject matter.
The workshop will then focus on the 16 capacities to be covered by the PHEPA. The programme aims to provide interactive discussions and participatory activities to foster collaboration, networking and practical outcomes. During the four working sessions on this second workshop day, participants will break into working groups to identify gaps, discuss priority interventions required and propose specific strategies, including hospital preparedness and general (all-hazards) PPR plans.
The outcomes of these discussions will be summarised into actionable next steps with a timeline in preparation for Slovenia’s PHEPA assessment scheduled for March 2026.
Target audience
The target audience for this National Workshop are key stakeholders from intersectoral networks involved in supporting the national competent entities (MoH and NIPH) in public health emergency prevention, preparedness and response activities linked to implementing the IHR through the reporting of the e-SPAR and PPR. This includes experts and representatives from national government entities in the health sector (central administration of health services, medicine authority, national reference lab, etc.) and in other sectors (food safety, environment, foreign affairs, defence) as well as academia, research institutions and civil society. It intends to involve experts from other sectors not directly involved in reporting e-SPAR and PPR, such as finance, justice, equities, social security and private hospitals. The national workshop aims to bring together 40 to 50 professionals to enhance capacities in implementing the International Health Regulations (IHR) 2005 and strengthen national preparedness and response systems under the EU Health Security framework.
Participants will receive an invitation from EPIC11 to attend the workshop. All participants can register on https://epic11.eu/epic11-national-workshop-slovenia.
The event will be conducted in Slovenian, except for sessions delivered by international speakers which will be held in English.