Civil-Military Cooperation (CIMIC)

CIMIC refers to the Civil-Military Cooperation that takes place in collaboration with the Austrian Armed Forces as well as medical relief organizations such as the Johanniter and the Austrian Red Cross providing first aid training. Collaborations with Innsbruck Fire Brigade and the Mountain Rescue Tyrol have also taken place in order to introduce students to different approaches of crisis and disaster management.

This collaboration between the Unit of Peace and Conflict Studies and the Austrian Armed Forces navigates between the critical approach applied by the study programme and the practical real-life experience of the military that has engaged in past Civil-Military peace operations abroad. Thus, the military shows the students how to navigate the stressful and dangerous realities of a possible international deployment in a conflict or post-conflict area that demands necessary skills and experience such as leadership, teamwork, effective communication, first aid and stress management. Moreover, by working with the military, the students get to know the hierarchical command structures as well as the organizational and operational management of a national defence institution.

Since modern international peacebuilding operations sometimes demand cooperation with the military, this collaboration gives the student an insight into the operational machine of the military and how they approach crisis situations. Moreover, it offers tools for students to apply to other fields of work in this area such as disaster management and interinstitutional communication as well as personal development opportunities in leadership and teamwork. Within this cooperation, experiential learning is most important and allows students to fully immerse in the experience of Civil-Military Cooperation and learn from simulated conflict and disaster situations.

The CIMIC excursions take place once every semester, together with a course in Stress Management and Crisis Intervention. In the winter semester, students have the option of either participating in the CIMIC excursion in Tyrol facilitated together with the Austrian Armed Forces, or to participate in the international excursion offered. For both of these excursions, one preparation week is scheduled in Innsbruck where introduction and training prepares the students for the excursions. The following week, students depart to the excursion together with staff from the programme. In the summer semester, participation in the CIMIC excursion is mandatory, though exceptions are possible and can be compensated by individual research projects.