Hostile Environment Awareness Training (HEAT)

The training raises the participants’ awareness of potentially dangerous situations in the field and teaches techniques and tools for meeting the challenges of these situations. Through simulations and exercises participants apply what they have learned and practice their behaviour in specific dangerous situations.

The course language is English.

This training aims to promote civilian actors’ understanding of proactive security measures before, during and after deployment to a conflict area. At the same time, participants familiarise themselves with techniques and measures to avoid and/or handle potentially dangerous situations.

In addition, participants will be given the opportunity to experience and to analyse different dangerous situations and to test the limits of their personal stress tolerance.

This training is an integral and obligatory part of the mission preparation for ZIF secondments to peace operations and humanitarian operations. The target audience is staff selected for or deployed to low, middle and high-risk missions.

• Behaviour in critical security situations
• Mission risk management processes in international organisations (UN, OSCE) with particular focus on the EU (Mission Security Planning, MSP)
• Mobile security: Behaviour during ambushes and at roadblocks and checkpoints
• Strategies for avoiding and surviving kidnapping and hostage taking
• Mine awareness
• Handling confidential information
• Stress and trauma management
• Orientation in the field: map reading and use of compass and GPS
• Communication and use of radios
• Basic first aid in the field

This course requires all participants to have successfully completed the UN online security awareness training BSAFE.

Course venue:

The HEAT course takes place in part at a hotel in Hammelburg and in part at the UN Training Centre of the German Armed Forces in Hammelburg.

Course fee:

• €1,500 for external applicants
• €180 for members of the ZIF Expert Pool (German nationals only)

The course fee covers the cost of accommodation & full board during the training. It is recommended that all participants stay at the training location, as the course programme is designed to include joint evening events. Choosing not to stay at the course hotel does not entitle you to a reduction of the course fee. Insurance and travel costs are not included in the course fee and will not be reimbursed.

ZIF Trainings:

ZIF Trainings are practice-oriented and reflect the operational reality of peace operations and (post-)conflict areas through exercises, role plays and scenario-based courses. Moreover, our trainings focus on the main areas of competence outlined in the ZIF Concept “Civilian Expert”. Additionally, we base our courses on contemporary concepts of adult education and peer learning. We try to create a joint learning space where participants and the training team can exchange freely and critically, and which provides room for self-reflection. Another important goal of our courses is to encourage a change of perspective. One way of achieving this is by mainstreaming the comprehensive approach (civilian, police, military), which is made possible through our cooperation within the German Training Partner Platform.