How can the EU jointly manage cross-border health crises?

Effective preparation through the “ECDC Public Health Preparedness and Response Training Programme” blended learning course

The European Centre for Disease Prevention and Control (ECDC) plans to further qualify public health specialists in the EU member states. Their aim is to ensure that the European Union is optimally prepared in the event of cross-border threats to public health, such as pandemics or natural disasters. In February 2025, the pilot run of the blended learning course “ECDC Public Health Preparedness and Response Training Program” started with a week of face-to-face training in Stockholm. 

common sense is part of an international project consortium led by evaplan GmbH at Heidelberg University Hospital. The common sense team developed the three-month course on the ECDC learning platform and implemented it technically, working closely with the consortium and the ECDC. 

The expert team on behalf of evaplan is involved in the curriculum development and course implementation in close coordination with the ECDC experts.

In the online phase of the course, a wide variety of content elements and forms of learning are combined in a didactically meaningful way to effectively prepare participants from the EU member states for possible health threats with all the important tools and the latest findings. The content of the course is based on the ECDC's “Emergency Preparedness and Response (EPR)” cycle. Experienced experts from the project consortium and the ECDC support the learners in dealing with the content and promote cross-border exchange.