The overarching theme of the call is to explore the medium to long-term consequences beyond the COVID-19 pandemic. Available budget is approx. 45 million NOK.
A new study shows that sexual harassment is commonplace in the Norwegian police and army. The Nordic Region may well have a reputation as a global leader in gender equality, but we are not in a position to rest on our laurels, according to the researchers behind the study
Living on 18 small islands in the North Atlantic, the Faroese people are used to wild weather. But what should they be doing to prepare for the increasingly extreme storms caused by climate change? Researchers warn that the climate debate often overlooks the Nordic Region’s smaller communities.
Societal change is accelerating through continued rapid population growth and significant changes in demographics, technological advances, and increasing interconnectedness between various infrastructures. Together with climate change and a new global security situation these trends will inevitably lead to a change in the risk landscape. One of the key actors that has to deal with such change is the Fire and Rescue Services. These organisations are both governed by, and dependent on, formal and informal networks.
Often there are areas on the outskirts of a country where emergency response is rudimentary, located far from major cities and where critical infrastructure is vulnerable to these types of events. This is first and foremost untenable/indefensible for the citizens; however, authorities with emergency management responsibility need new methods in order to support the communities in their own efforts to build capacity, since the fire and rescue services do not necessarily have the capacity to carry out search and rescue operations as they are expected to in the future. One of the many challenges, besides the violent and devastating events themselves, is that the areas can also be threatened with relocation if the locals are unable to cope with the rising threats of climate change – this is critical for the Nordic societies in general.
A recent study from Iceland reveals that many tourists ignore repeated warning signs when visiting sites. We feel invulnerable when we are on holiday and we want the perfect selfie, is one of the explanations from one of the researchers behind the study
Bengt Sundelius is chair of the committee for NordForsk’s Nordic Societal Security Initiative. We asked him to identify some of the challenges facing the Nordic region at this very moment.
