Organized by the Centre of Excellence for Cold Weather Operations and HQ SACT, and hosted by NATO’s Joint Warfare Centre, the annual Directors’ Conference brought COEs together with representatives from NATO Headquarters, Allied Command Operations, Allied Command Transformation, and other NATO organizations.
This year’s conference focused heavily on the connection between COE expertise and NATO demand. Participants explored where the Centres can provide the most useful support to NATO entities, how that work can be addressed through their Programmes of Work, and how successful outputs can be incorporated into NATO doctrine, training, exercises, planning, and capability development.
Discussions at the 2026 Centres of Excellence Directors’ Conference focused on better connecting NATO requirements with the Centres able to meet them, while making better use of expertise across the network. The goal is a COE network that continues to adapt alongside NATO, concentrating specialized expertise on the operational problems that the Alliance needs help solving and delivering results that commands and forces can use. COEs play a vital role in achieving this.
More information: https://www.act.nato.int/article/coe-support-alliance-readiness/
Photo: Allied Command Transformation (ACT)
