Conveners
Workshop: (Practice Makes Perfect: PAW – A Crisis Exercise to Try and Take Home)
- Zoe Fischer
- Maria Edblom Tauson (SUNET)
- Jože Hanc (ARNES)
Description
Crises are inevitable, and when they happen the ability to respond effectively under pressure is what makes the difference between recovery and chaos. Most organisations understand this, yet very few have the opportunity to practice their response in a realistic setting. Awareness alone is not enough, preparedness comes from doing. This workshop is designed to provide exactly that: a chance to sit together with a group of peers, some familiar and some new, and work collaboratively to solve an invented crisis scenario.
During the workshop the audience will do the PAW exercise, a simplified and reusable exercise format developed in GN5-2 by the GÉANT community. PAW was created to make crisis exercises accessible to any organisation, regardless of size or resources. It uses a pre-built scenario and role-play elements to create an engaging, realistic experience without requiring extensive preparation or budget. Participants will experience the urgency and complexity of a real crisis in a safe environment, where they can test their skills, learn from others, and understand the dynamics of decision-making under pressure.
A lot of effort and expertise has gone into creating this exercise and its predecessor CLAW. CLAW, the full-scale physical workshop, has become one of the most anticipated events in the GÉANT community and is always fully booked within days. This popularity shows how valuable these exercises are but it also means many people never get the chance to participate. By bringing PAW to Security Days, we want to give more exposure to this initiative and offer participants the opportunity to experience a simplified version of CLAW. It’s also a great way to reuse the materials we’ve developed and demonstrate how easy it is for others to adapt and run similar exercises internally or for their constituents.
The workshop will start with a short introduction to the basics of crisis management covering roles, communication, and decision-making principles before moving into the hands-on exercise. After the scenario, we will debrief together, sharing lessons learned and discussing how PAW can be adapted for different organisational contexts. This is not just about improving individual skills; it’s about empowering organisations to strengthen their preparedness without overburdening their teams.
The target audience for this session is anyone interested in practising their crisis management skills or providing hands-on crisis exercises to their organisation internally or to their connected institutions. It is particularly relevant for community representatives from Communications, NOC, CSIRT, and Information Security Management, as well as anyone responsible for organisational preparedness within NRENs and their communities.
Security Days is the perfect place for this session because crisis management is an essential part of security, yet it is often overlooked due to resource constraints. Bringing this workshop to Security Days allows us to address that gap in a practical, community-driven way. It is an opportunity for participants to practice together, exchange ideas, and leave with something tangible that strengthens resilience across the R&E community.