About us

Welcome to the CIMIC Centre of Excellence

The CCOE is a multinational-sponsored, NATO-accredited Centre of Excellence. It provides added value, innovative and timely advice, and subject matter expertise on CIMIC for both civilian and military customers. The primary focuses of the organisation’s effort are in conceptual and doctrinal development, lessons learned along with enhanced training and education.

CCOE Mission Statement

Our mission is to assist the Alliance with effective and interoperable civil-military cooperation through unique expertise,  responsive education and training, cohered concepts, valuable lessons learned and future-oriented experimentation.


Who we are/What we do

On the 31st of July 2007, the CCOE was activated as a NATO-accredited Centre of Excellence, now located in The Hague, Netherlands. The CCOE is a recognised asset that assures NATO Nations’ and Partners’ access to up-to-date knowledge and expertise in the field of CIMIC & CMI and promotes NATO’s role in the area of transformation and innovation to external audiences. The CCOE is NATO Department Head for CIMIC & CMI (including Civil Preparedness), and a NATO accredited Education & Training Facility. Based on the NATO-EU joint declarations regarding intensifying cooperation, the CCOE became the European Union Discipline Leader (EU DL) for CIMIC in 2017 and a European Security Defence College member in 2020. CCOE’s program of work, coordinated and consistent with NATO efforts, is guided by 1. Education and Training, 2. Lessons Learned and Analysis 3. Concept Development and Experimentation, and 4. Doctrine Development and Standards.


Vision

We are the catalyst working towards a contemporary and future environment where military and non-military actors are seamlessly integrated into military activities, enabling a comprehensive approach to address complex challenges in peacetime, crisis, and conflict.


A nationally or multi-nationally sponsored entity that offers recognised expertise and experiences to benefit the Alliance, especially in support of transformation. It provides opportunities to enhance education and training, improve interoperability and capabilities, assist in doctrine development, and test and validate concepts through experimentation.

The manning is ensured by the 7 Sponsoring Nations as follows (in alphabetic order):

  • Germany
  • Hungary
  • Italy
  • Latvia
  • The Netherlands
  • Poland
  • Slovenia

In the manning, expansion is already accounted for with 13 posts for additional volunteering Sponsoring Nations in the CIC and T&E Branches.

Structure

The Concepts, Interoperability, Capabilities (CIC) Branch creates studies, analyses and advises regarding NATO CIMIC, contributes to the further development of NATO CIMIC policy and delivers Subject Matter Expertise (SME).

The Training & Education (T&E) Branch conducts courses and supports customers in the field of education and training.

The Lessons Learned & Analysis (LL&A) Branch is to learn efficiently from experience and to provide validated justifications for amending the existing way of doing things to improve performance.

The Support (SPT) Branch enables the other Branches to deliver their products and gives internal support.