COP28 UAE Case Study
PUBLISHED
October 7, 2024
CATEGORY
Operational Readiness
AUTHOR
Ikosaeder
01. The Challenge
In 2023 Ikosaeder was appointed to coordinate the development of a Concept of Operations and provide Operational Readiness services to the COP28 UN Climate Change Conference in Dubai, United Arab Emirates. This 28th edition was the largest of its kind, hosting over 85,000 UN participants including more than 150 Heads of State and attracting upwards of 540,000 public visitors.
Held at Expo City Dubai, the site of Expo 2020 where Ikosaeder had previously provided readiness services, the event marked a first by combining Blue (UN participants) and Green (public area) zones on a single site. The two-week conference featured a full schedule of talks and negotiations within the Blue Zone and curated programming, activations and concerts within the Green Zone, all across a site larger than Monaco (438 hectares).
Given the unique nature of the event, a key challenge was clearly defining the scope and purpose of the event, given the involvement of multiple delivery partners, including the UN, Expo City Dubai and several Event Management Companies (EMCs). The delineation of responsibilities was challenging, complicated further by Expo City’s shift from its role for Expo 2020 and the unprecedented scale event compared to previous COPs.
02. The Solution
To address the challenges, Ikosaeder developed a simple and effective framework and guidelines for the creation of a Concept of Operations to establish a shared understanding across all Delivery Partners of key event parameters, scope and clearly defined roles and responsibilities across all workstreams. At this stage the role of stakeholders within this framework and the cross-over between Blue and Green Zones had not yet been defined.
A thorough stakeholder map was developed to delineate responsibilities among delivery partners and ensure a unified approach. In collaboration with the internal teams, this became a comprehensive document despite the short timeframe available for creation.
The Concept of Operations went on to further develop this understanding into an event-time Command, Control and Communication (C3) framework, detailing decision-making processes and thresholds, decision-making authority as well as event-time information sharing protocols and tools.
In parallel, Ikosaeder launched a 30-day readiness engagement and education programme, appointing Readiness Champions for each workstream and delivery partner to facilitate streamlined information sharing. These champions participated in a series of seminars, supported by infographics, posters and videos, all available on the COP28 Readiness Hub for ease of access.
The final step of the project was to design and deliver an Operational Readiness Programme, bringing to life the Concept of Operations and providing opportunities to test the above roles and responsibilities split and C3 framework to ensure all elements worked in practice.
As the event neared, significant changes to project scope and ownership emerged. Ikosaeder assisted the COP28 UAE COO in evaluating these changes and adapting strategies accordingly, integrating outcomes into ongoing readiness exercises and document updates. Throughout the programme, Ikosaeder continuously provided lessons learned and recommendations for improvement, culminating in a Declaration of Readiness at the conclusion of the final exercise, ensuring all stakeholders were prepared for a successful event delivery.
03. The Outcome
Concept of Operation
- Overview of key event parameters (purpose, dates, locations, programme etc.) developed with input from all Delivery Partners
- Stakeholder mapping and responsibility matrix created
- C3 framework developed, including key principles, decision-making levels, Event-Time C3 structure and operations centres, information sharing protocols, daily rhythm, reporting and issue management processes
Operational Readiness
- Design of Readiness Strategy and Testing Matrix
- 30-day Readiness Engagement and Education Programme run across all Delivery Partners
- Set-up and management of Readiness Hub for easy access to key materials
- Seven Workstream-specific Tabletop Exercises conducted and reports provided
- One Zone-wide internal tabletop exercise
- Two Zone-wide joint tabletop exercises
- One Blue Zone simulation
- Two test events
- Conference of Youth Observer Programme
- Pre-event declaration of readiness
