Interconnected Help

Michaela Amschl

Michaela Amschl has been working for the Crisis Management and Safety Group at the Chief Executive Office of the City of Vienna since 2015. She heads the emergency organisation named AkutBetreuungWien, which consists of specially trained psychosocial professionals who provide care for persons affected by exceptionally stressful incidents during the first hours on the spot. Their interconnectedness with other emergency organisations, departments of the City, as well as external partners is an essential prerequisite for the successful work of AkutBetreuungWien. Beside this task, she is also active in the field of crisis management, her main focus being the preparation of mission plans as well as the planning of mission exercises.

Speech

Presentation of the Chief Executive Office (PDF) (German and English)

László Christián

Holding a law degree, Dr. László Christián has been in active service and has also been working as a university professor since 2002. He received his PhD degree in 2010 and habilitated in 2018. Mr. Christián is author of more than 100 scientific publications and has gained international experience in more than 30 countries on the functioning of law enforcement. Furthermore, he also works as editor-in-chief of the scientific magazine "Magyar Rendészet" ("Hungarian Law Enforcement"). His areas of research include law enforcement, private security, local security and municipal police.

Speech

Complementary policing in Hungary and Civil Guard together with Pál Kardos (PDF) (English)

Iveta Chovancová

Psychologist and a former outreach worker by the background. Iveta has a long-term experience in leadership of a harm reduction non-governmental organization as an executive director and in international cooperation in HIV and drug policy field. She is a co-founder of the drop-in centre in the only Bratislava's open drug scene location. She has been one of the leaders of the transformation in Bratislava’s social policies and serves as plenipotentiary for safety and drug policy for the City of Bratislava.

István Csige

István Csige has been working for the Hungarian Red Cross on a voluntary basis since 1998, and on a permanent basis since 2003. In the course of his work, he is primarily concerned with the following areas: volunteer management, youth, first aid, disaster protection, accident simulation, as well as refugee care. He has participated in many missions both in Hungary and abroad.

Krasimir Dimitrov

Krasimir Dimitrov is Director of the Department "Civil and Disaster Protection and Prevention" of the Municipality of Sofia. Since August 2015, he has been Director of the Department "Civil and Disaster Protection and Prevention" of the Municipality of Sofia. Furthermore, he was awarded the honourable distinction "For Courage and Merit – third level" by the Ministry of the Interior for his contribution to the protection of national security and the combat against crime in the Sofia area, as well as for his contribution to the relations between the Interior Ministry and the Municipality of Sofia.

Speech

Directorate Emergency Response and Prevention (PDF) (English)

Marek Gajdoš

Marek Gajdoš worked for 17 years as a member of the Police Force (state police of the Slovak Republic), mainly in the field of criminal proceeding - investigation of crimes. After that, he worked for two years as a trainee lawyer with specialization in criminal law. Since 2019 he is the Chief of Municipal Police of the Capital of Slovakia Bratislava.

Rainer Gottwald

Rainer Gottwald has been head of the Vienna Professional Ambulance Service (Municipal Department 70) for almost 10 years. Being Austria's only professional ambulance service, the latter ensures emergency medical supply in the Federal Capital. Its tasks include the provision of care in individual cases of emergency, the coordination and implementation of preclinical supply in the event of major damages and disasters, the operation of the Vienna Rescue Coordination Centre, as well as education and training by the Ambulance Academy. The professional networking with the emergency organisations and the players in the health sector is absolutely necessary for the benefit of patients.

Speech

Presentation Professional Ambulance Service of Vienna (PDF) (German and English)

Walter Hillerer

Walter Hillerer is Group leader for affairs relating to immediate measures and municipal services. In this function, he leads and coordinates the largest citizen service provider of the City of Vienna. The highest priority in this regard is the optimal creation and further development of a perfect client management of the Vienna City Administration. Particular mention should be made here of the "Sag's Wien" ("Tell Vienna") app, a quick and efficient tool created for handling a large number of complaints in a simple and unbureaucratic manner! In the field of immediate measures, he heads all relevant operations that go beyond initial measures taken by the fire brigade, ambulance units and police and where swift, interdepartmental help is required!

Speech

Immediate Measures (PDF) (German and English)

Gerald Hillinger

Gerald Hillinger is Head of Department of the Fire Brigade and Disaster Unit at the City of Vienna. In his capacity as Chief Fire Officer, he manages the world's oldest professional fire brigade, is in charge of providing the technical equipment required, the personnel resources, as well as the necessary further training of firefighters. The Professional Fire Brigade of the City of Vienna is active in the fields of firefighting, saving humans and animals, providing technical aid and eliminating environmental hazards; furthermore, it is involved in the further development of equipment and operational tactics.

Speech

Presentation Vienna Professional Fire Brigade (PDF) (German and English)

Heinrich Himmer

Heinrich Himmer has been Executive President of the Vienna Municipal Education Authority since February 2017 and Director of Education for Vienna since April 2018. Holding responsibility for nearly 240.000 pupils, 26.000 teachers and approximately 700 schools, the Vienna Department of Education together with other institutions plays a key role in shaping the school sector in the Federal Capital. Being a member of the security network called "K-Kreis" ("K-Circle"), the Vienna Department of  Education considers it an important task to guarantee and improve security in Vienna schools on the one hand, and – by offering prevention and  information work – to take advantage of the opportunity to contribute to more awareness-raising and security on the other, with pupils acting as "Ambassadors in the Family" focussing on society as a whole.

Speech

Presentation Department of Education - together with Barbara Würzelberger (PDF) (German and English)

Siniša Jembrih

Siniša Jembrih is a Chief Fire Officer of Zagreb (Croatia) Fire Department with 25 years of service and a university degree in fire science. As captain, he is in charge of the response unit. He is also a journalist and photographer for a Croatian firefighting magazine and several international magazines. His particular interests in the fire service are fire behavior training which he brought to Croatia, rope rescue and aerial ladders vehicles.

Speech

Firefighters of Zagreb (PDF) (English)

Pavle Kalinić

Pavle Kalinić graduated from the Faculty of Political Science in Zagreb on the topic of "Terrorism" and obtained his master's degree with his scientific work "Western European Left-Wing Radicalism and Terrorism". He obtained his doctorate at the Faculty for Political Science on the topic "The Policy of the Bush Administration and Islamist Terrorism". In the course of his career, he worked in different areas: as a city councillor, a member of the Croatian Parliament, guest professor, director of the publishing house "Profil" and as Head of the Department of Culture, Education and Sports. Since 2008, he has been holding the position of Head of the Department for Crisis Management of Zagreb.

Speech

Emergency Management Office, City of Zagreb (PDF) (English)

Pál Kardos

Dr. Pál Kardos is President of the Budapest Civil Defence Association, Deputy Chairman for Education and Vice President for Disaster Protection of the National Civil Defence Association. Furthermore, he is a member of the National Council for Crime Prevention. He also teaches at the National University for Public Services at the Faculty for Private Security and Municipal Law Enforcement.

Speech

Complementary policing in Hungary and Civil Guard - together with László Christián (PDF) (Englisch)

Wolfgang Kastel

Wolfgang Kastel has been working as a police officer for more than 20 years and has been active in the field of preventive work for many years. His duties included the planning, organisation and implementation of projects and events for various target groups. Already in that period, he considered interconnectedness a very important aspect. In 2002, he changed to the organisation named "Helfer Wiens" ("Helpers of Vienna") (Vienna Civil Defence Association), where he has served as Manager since 2004. This prevention body of the City of Vienna is the supporting organisation of the so-called Wiener K-Kreis (Vienna K Circle), which consists of all public-safety and aid organisations, as well as of all safety-relevant departments in Vienna.

Speech

• Presentation "The Helpers of Vienna" (PDF) (German and English)
• K-Circle (PDF) (English)

Harald Katzmair

Harald Katzmair is CEO, founder and Scientific Head of FASresearch, a Vienna-based analysis and strategy company with the focus on social network analysis & ecosystem mapping. A social scientist, management philosopher and entrepreneur, he has been supporting Fortune 500 customers as well as leading non-profit organisations in achieving their objectives thanks to his visionary understanding of network science and resilience theory for nearly 25 years.

Martin Klimakovský

Martin Klimakovský is Crisis Management specialist in Prague City Hall with focus on crisis management systems and project management. His career in the field of security started in 1990. From 1990 to 2008 he was head of Crisis Management Department of City District Prague 11. He also acted as chairman of The Lost Child Association, o.s. and deputy director for bussiness and technology in the Center of Social Services of Prague.

Speech

Security & Crisis Management Portal of City of Prague and Operations Centre of Emergency Task Force of City of Prague (PDF) (English)

Klára Kyndlová

Klára Kyndlová has been working at the Fire Rescue Service of the City of Prague since 2016 in the Department of Population Protection and Crisis Management. Before that, she studied at the Czech Technical University in Prague at the Faculty of Biomedical Engineering, where the main field was Civil Emergency Planning. Klára Kyndlová works primarily in the field of crisis management and everything related to it, but she also participates in emergency planning, especially in the creation of external emergency plans around objects handling hazardous chemicals.

Speech

Integrated Rescue System (PDF) (English)

Michaela Lackner

Michaela Lackner has been working for the Crisis Management and Safety Group at the Chief Executive Office of the City of Vienna since 2015. She heads the emergency organisation named AkutBetreuungWien, which consists of specially trained psychosocial professionals who provide care for persons affected by exceptionally stressful incidents during the first hours on the spot. Their interconnectedness with other emergency organisations, departments of the City, as well as external partners is an essential prerequisite for the successful work of AkutBetreuungWien. Beside this task, she is also active in the field of crisis management, her main focus being the preparation of mission plans as well as the planning of mission exercises.

Speech

Akutbetreuung Vienna (PDF) (German and English)

Rade Milošević

Rade Milošević was born in 1973. He studied at the Faculty of Security Studies and also completed his Master studies there. Currently, he is pursuing his doctorate studies at the Faculty of Security Studies and is working at the Interior Ministry of the Republic of Serbia. For seven years, he has been Head of Administration for crisis situations in Belgrade. Before that, he was Head of the Operative Centre of Belgrade for two years. Furthermore, Mr. Milošević is Head of the Municipal Staff Unit for crisis situations of the City of Belgrade.

Speech

Emergency Situation Management (PDF) (English)

Wolfgang Müller

Wolfgang Müller MA, MBA is head of the Division for the Organisation and Safety at the Chief Executive Director's Office of the City of Vienna and Deputy Chief Executive Director. He was Head of Operations of the City during the European Soccer Championship 2008 as well as during the refugee crisis in 2015. To him, the networking between all operational structures in the City of Vienna is a matter of personal interest.

Gerhard Pürstl

Gerhard Pürstl has been President of the Vienna Police for almost 12 years now. In this function, he is in charge of fulfilling all security, criminal and traffic police-related tasks, as well as of the protection of the Constitution and the fight against terrorism in the Federal Capital. During his term in office,  crime rates in Vienna – despite the continuously growing population – have dropped by around 25 %, while the crime clearance rate has increased by approximately 50 %. For him, a close network between the city administration and all organisations working in the field of security is of particular importance.

Speech

Presentation Police of Vienna (PDF) (German and English)

Martin Schipany

Martin Schipany has been working over 10 years for the city of Vienna in the field of communications. After serving for two years as speaker for the city counselman for city development and traffic affairs he changed into the department for press and information services. There he led the central office for city communication, planning and operating the City of Vienna's communication. After one year as deputy head of the department he was promoted to head of the department for press and information services in 2019. Martin Schipany is specialised in strategic communication planning, media innovation management and digitization. 

Speech

• Presentation Press and Information Service of the City of Vienna (PDF) (German and English)
• Vienna cares (Wien kümmerts) (PDF) (English)

Richard Smejkal

Czech Red Cross volunteer (10 years of experience): currently - Emergency Response Unit (Team Leader). 
Field of interest: volunteerism in emergencies, disasters and armed conflicts; community engagement and accountability
Professional experience: language school director; lecturer with experience at leading Czech academic institutions; trainer of trainers for partner Red Cross societies; experienced in disaster response and recovery programs within field missions outside Czechia (Nepal, Ukraine, Balkan states).

Speech

Volunteering in emergencies (PDF) (English)

Barbara Würzelberger

In the past Barbara Würzelberger has worked as a primary school teacher and as a school principal. In March 2017 she joined Heinrich Himmer, the Executive President of the Vienna Municipal Education Authority, and his team. Since then she has been in charge of key educational issues within the City of Vienna regarding compulsory schooling, various digitalization efforts and the so-called "Education Hub". As liaison between schools and the "Helpers of Vienna", she assists in the organization of events such as the "Safety Tour", the "Vienna Safety Festival" and of educational programs at schools. In one of such for example, primary school children are suitably taught proper first aid measures in class. Raising awareness for safety issues at a young age is of great importance to her.

Speech

Presentation Department of Education - together with Heinrich Himmer (PDF) (German and English)

Dominik Zeidler

Since 2006, Dominik Zeidler has been working for the "Helfer Wiens" ("Helpers of Vienna") (Vienna Civil Defence Association), a prevention body of the City of Vienna, in the field of public relations and the organisation of trainings and events. Under the motto "Vorbereitet sein. Helfen können!" ("Be prepared. Be able to help!"), approximately 100 events and 200 presentations are held every year for different target groups (children, families, seniors) on the subject of safety. Since 2011, his tasks also include the administration of the webtool "Freiwillig für Wien" ("Volunteer for Vienna"). "Freiwillig für Wien" is a valuable online platform aiming to bring together persons wishing to undertake voluntary work with organisations that seek voluntary employees.

Speech

• Presentation "The Helpers of Vienna" (PDF) (German and English)
• Voluntary work (PDF) (English)