The goal of COSSEC was to extend involvement in IMPETUS to stakeholders beyond the consortium with an interest in the topics dealt with by the project.  This provided the project with access to a wider pool of knowledge, experience and practical viewpoints that guided the project team in their work, taking account of requirements and constraints from the wider community.  COSSEC members  benefitted from being part of a network of people/organisations with related interests, gained inside knowledge of IMPETUS developments, and had opportunities to influence development.

For the first part of the project, Covid restrictions on travel meant that COSSEC activities were mostly confined to webinars on relevant topics.  In the latter part of the project, COSSEC members took part actively in live exercises held in the partner cities of Oslo and Padova. COSSEC members also played a central role in the project's final dissemination event in Rotterdam January 31st / February 1st 2023. 

COSSEC was established as a small group of interested organisations even before the IMPETUS project formally started.  During the lifetime of the project, it grew to a membership of

47 organisations, with a wide variety of types of members: representatives of city authorities, police authorities, human rights groups, voluntary organisations, data protection authorities, companies and other networks/research projects&organisations.  Membership of COSSEC was free; the project was in some cases able to refund travel and subsistence costs of COSSEC members travelling to project events.

More information about COSSEC activities and membership can be found in project deliverable D8.5 External Collaboration report. 

We wish to build on the excellent cooperation that was established via COSSEC during the lifetime of the project to widen the network further to include IMPETUS consortium members, other related projects and indeed any interested stakeholders. We would also like to extend the scope of the cooperation beyond IMPETUS itself, to encompass the wider area of use of different types of advanced technologies for the protection of public spaces.

There are different ways that could be achieved. Perhaps we will maintain the COSSEC network in its current form under its current name.  Or merge COSSEC members into other existing or emerging groups.  Or establish new online fora.  Or perhaps a mixture of these. 

We are currently looking into different possibilities.

If you are interested in becoming part of future co-operation with IMPETUS (whether COSSEC-based or not), please make use of the Contact Us section of this website to get in touch.