ABOUT US

The Crisis Management and Disaster Response Centre of Excellence (CMDR COE), located in Sofia, Republic of Bulgaria, is a NATO-accredited institution that serves as a hub of expertise in the areas of crisis management and disaster response. Established on 28 August 2013 and officially accredited as NATO’s 21st Centre of Excellence on 31 March 2015, the CMDR COE plays a key role in advancing NATO’s transformation and enhancing civil-military capabilities in an increasingly complex security environment.

The Centre’s primary focus is on crisis management and disaster response (CMDR), complemented by a broader thematic portfolio addressing cross-cutting issues such as resilience, climate change, gender mainstreaming, and protection of civilians. Although not an operational body, the CMDR COE provides high-level research and analysis, concept development and experimentation, education and training for senior leaders and specialists, support to doctrine and standardisation, and lessons-learned analysis. It also leverages modern technology through a fully equipped operational laboratory with significant testing and validation capabilities.

In 2019, the CMDR COE was awarded Unconditional Accreditation and received a NATO Quality Assurance Certificate (ACT/JFD/HCEIT/TT-1548/Ser:NU), validating its compliance with NATO’s educational standards. This recognition was reaffirmed in 2025, when the Centre successfully achieved re-accreditation for a six-year period, along with a new NATO Quality Assurance Certificate (ACT/MDFD/ETPP/TT–0755/Ser: NU).

Since 2024, the CMDR COE has also served as the Department Head for Business Continuity Management, and, beginning in 2025, it assumed the role of Department Head for Information, Knowledge Management. These responsibilities further enhance the Centre’s strategic contribution to NATO’s operational excellence and institutional resilience.