Fondazione SAFE welcomed the Undersecretary of State at the Ministry of the Interior, Hon. Emanuele Prisco, and the Regional Minister of Education, Training, Culture and Equal Opportunities of the Veneto Region, Valeria Mantovan, to the Calvarina Testing and Training Area. The delegation was accompanied by the Head of the Italian National Fire and Rescue Service, Engineer Eros Mannino, and by the Director of the Interregional Directorate of the Fire and Rescue Service for Veneto and Trentino-Alto Adige, Engineer Cristina D’Angelo.
Also attending the visit were the Mayor of Roncà, Lorenzo Ruggeroni, and the Mayor of Chiampo, Filippo Negro, highlighting the strong commitment of local administrations to training and safety initiatives at both territorial and national levels.
The delegations had the opportunity to witness the full operational capacity of Calvarina as a testing and training center. During the visit, several activities carried out within the area were presented, including HEAT (Hostile Environment Awareness Training) courses dedicated to preparation for high-risk environments, as well as assessment and testing activities conducted within the framework of the NATO DIANA (Defence Innovation Accelerator for the North Atlantic) programme, which has established Calvarina as one of the leading international sites for the validation of dual-use technologies.
Undersecretary Prisco and Regional Minister Mantovan also attended a series of operational demonstrations showcasing Fondazione SAFE’s technological innovations. In particular, the delegation experienced the Virtual Reality (VR) scenarios developed by SAFE for the training of the Italian National Fire and Rescue Service as part of the rescEU-CBRN-DSIM-IT project. These high-fidelity simulated environments reproduce complex CBRN emergency situations, allowing operators to train under highly realistic yet controlled conditions.
The visit also included the presentation of the Command and Control Vehicle, an advanced operational platform designed to support VR training activities in any location and environmental condition. Equipped with integrated systems for tactical coordination and communications management during the most critical phases of simulated CBRN operations, the vehicle serves both as a mobile exercise base and as a post-exercise analysis hub.
The visit concluded with an institutional discussion focused on the results achieved so far, the operational needs of the CBRN sector, and the outlook for the next phases of the ongoing projects.