Lessons Learned For The First On-line International Course On Nuclear Safeguards And Non-proliferation (esarda Course) Under The Pandemic Context

Education and training programmes in nuclear safeguards are generally missing from curricula of Universities or other E&T organisations. In order to fill this gap, the Nuclear Security Unit of the Joint Research Centre (JRC), European Commission is organising in Ispra (Italy) yearly and since two decades a full week course on nuclear safeguards and non-proliferation. The organisation of this course is the contribution of the JRC to the Training and Knowledge Management working group (TKM) of the European Safeguards and Research and Development Association (ESARDA). This so-called ESARDA Course in 2020 did not take place due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The 2021 edition of the course will be delivered on-line (April 12-16) as the pandemic persists. The virtual nature of the 2021 ESARDA course requires some adjustments with respect to the traditional course delivered in presence in Ispra. Nevertheless, the first on-line edition of the ESARDA course keeps its traditional broad offer with combinations of lectures, group exercises, case studies, lab visits (now conducted virtually), quizzes, and exam. This paper will report lessons learned from this first experience of ESARDA course delivered on-line including future perspectives.