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Deterrence, preparedness, and response to evolving chemical, biological, radiological, and nuclear CBRN threats are being strengthened by international communities and states. These threats require closer top-down and bottom-up cooperation at all levels in order to enable collaborative shared efforts, foster an environment for learning from one another, pool resources and expertise, and take advantage of synergies with an ultimate objective of improving institutional and collective safety and security. Improving preparedness and response necessitates closer and stronger interactions among various stakeholders, including security practitioners, researchers, policy makers, innovation providers, small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs), and industry. In this context, forging a dynamic multidisciplinary CBRN network could be a more effective approach to promote synergies and addressing the need for stronger cooperation. A resource pooling strategy helps build a highly cooperative CBRN stakeholder community and ensures the network's long-term viability and sustainability. This study examines practical methods to ensure sustainability in pooling and sharing resources, knowledge, and best practices in the field of CBRN training and capacity building. It details how a solution-oriented strategy was created, including a generalised method for combining resources and maximising institutional and government investments. This study was conducted by combining the results of a literature review on best practices in resource pooling and sharing, determining its applicability to CBRN defence, and examining the Horizon 2020 project, European Network of CBRN Training Centres (eNOTICE), as a case study to draw real-time input from the project activities. This work proposes a novel and strategic contribution to the field of CBRN defence in the form of a practice-oriented concept and methodology, for establishing and maintaining CBRN networks at local, regional, and global levels. This top-down and bottom-up transversal strategy offers a way forward that can help CBRN-related dynamic interdisciplinary networks to establish, maintain, and develop in a sustainable way. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

Since the onset of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic in Belgium, UZ/KU Leuven has played a crucial role as the National Reference Centre (NRC) for respiratory pathogens, to be the first Belgian laboratory to develop and implement laboratory developed diagnostic assays for SARS-CoV-2 (severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2) and later to assess the quality of commercial kits. To meet the growing demand for decentralised testing, both clinical laboratories and government-supported high-throughput platforms were gradually deployed across Belgium. Consequently, the role of the NRC transitioned from a specialised testing laboratory to strengthening capacity and coordinating quality assurance. Here, we outline the measures taken by the NRC, the national public health institute Sciensano and the executing clinical laboratories to ensure effective quality management of molecular testing throughout the initial two years of the pandemic (March 2020 to March 2022). [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]