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Societal resilience is fundamental for navigating sustainable development while being seriously challenged by misinformation and disinformation in the post-truth era. The thesis’ purpose is to explore how AI-driven truth technologies can be developed and utilised to mitigate mis- and disinformation. Three research questions are answered to illustrate the potential of truth technologies by (1) clarifying expectations that provide common ground and identifying promising opportunities for scaling, (2) anticipating serious risks that must be mitigated, and (3) outlining management principles to guide future development. Data is collected through 23 semi-structured qualitative interviews with distinguished professionals and academics from the field. The results show AI is expected to be used to circulate effective disinformation, while truth technologies will become mature and widespread. Opportunities with truth technologies include improved fact-checking, evaluation of publishing sources, and the contextualisation of information. Risks are technical limitations like oversimplifications and biases, users’ overreliance, and manipulation or censorship. Management principles propose that truth technologies should be effectively and practically regulated; should be decentralised, transparent, and explainable; trustworthy bodies should oversee them; and their use complemented by education in critical thinking, with ethics considered. The discussion emphasises that truth technologies are an effective solution to false information, will be scaled, and face immediate obstacles and advanced risks. Effective management is the bottleneck to successful large-scale adoption. Further, truth technologies can be a disruptive technology, should be effectively used in hybrid models with human oversight, and underlying power structures need to be managed., AI-driven truth technologies can fight false information and strengthen societal resilience. The research investigates truth technologies, i.e., artificial intelligence (AI) tools that can fight false information. From 23 expert interviews, promising opportunities for the future, dangerous risks, and guiding management principles are identified. Do you recall the time when the UK was still part of the European Union, the idea of a Donald Trump presidency was looked at amusingly, and people could agree on basic knowledge? Over the last few years, this changed more and more. Nowadays, in the “post-truth era”, there are overwhelming and confusing fake news and lies everywhere. The thesis explores how AI can fight such false information and help societies. Concretely, such tools are called “truth technologies”. They are based on AI and not only check facts with knowledge from the internet but also analyse how people speak and what their faces express. Combining these observations, truth technologies try to decide whether a claim is true and accurate. All the following results are based on 23 interviews with experts from 11 countries from all over the world. The results show that, on the one hand, AI is expected to be more and more used to spread false information successfully, but, on the other hand, truth technologies will improve and be used by many people. This is highly important because malicious actors use false information as a weapon to decrease mutual trust and break down democracies. The research finds opportunities with truth technologies, including their potential to improve fact-checking efforts, evaluate the trustworthiness of publishing sources, and provide more information around simplified statements. The results also warn of serious risks with truth technologies. Truth technologies could also be used by malicious actors for manipulation or censorship, they could have technical limitations, they could not be good enough to understand complexities around

How do the strategic documents of the Republic of Lithuania contribute to the efforts of its institutions and organisations to build societal resilience to threats? Although the need for overall preparedness is recognised, the division of responsibilities remains unclear and fragmented. This thesis identifies the gaps between policy and its implementation by examining the strategic documents and expert opinions. The results show that the policies are summarising, visionary and directional. This leads to a lack of clarity for the institutions or to haphazard initiatives. By explaining the relationship between policy expectations and the actual willingness of the public to contribute to the defence of the state, this study contributes to the study of warfare. It also provides theoretical and empirical data for building and strengthening societal resilience in Lithuania. Promoting active dialogue, strengthening coordination between institutions and non-governmental organisations can strengthen societal resilience and thus promote better prepared national defence., Hur bidrar Republiken Litauens strategiska dokument till dess institutioners och organisationers ansträngningar att bygga samhällelig resiliens mot hot? Även om behovet av allmän beredskap erkänns, förblir ansvarsfördelningen oklar och fragmenterad. Denna avhandling identifierar klyftorna mellan politik och dess genomförande genom att undersöka de strategiska dokumenten och expertutlåtanden. Resultaten visar att policyn är sammanfattande, visionär och riktgivande. Detta leder till en brist på tydlighet för institutionerna eller till slumpmässiga initiativ. Genom att förklara sambandet mellan policyförväntningar och allmänhetens faktiska vilja att bidra till statens försvar, bidrar denna studie till krigsvetenskap. Den tillhandahåller också teoretiska och empiriska data för att bygga och stärka samhällelig resiliens i Litauen. Att främja aktiv dialog och stärka samordningen mellan institutioner och icke-statliga organisationer kan stärka samhällelig resiliens och därigenom främja en bättre förberedd nationellt försvar.

This thesis aims to study the role, function, and responsibility of municipalities in the Swedish total defence during periods of heightened preparedness. The method used in this thesis is a qualitative text analysis, and the material consists of public documents from state actors. The research question formulated is as follows: What role, function, and responsibility are municipalities expected to have within the future total defence during periods of heightened preparedness? To answer the research question, resilience has been used as a theoretical framework. The results show that municipalities are expected to take on a proactive role by working with anticipation and identification, as well as by preventing, mitigating, and preparing for crises. Additionally, municipalities are expected to have an adaptive capability and act reactively by implementing measures and restoring society to normalcy. Furthermore, although the concept of resilience is not explicitly mentioned in the analyzed documents, it is evident that municipalities are expected to have a role, function, and responsibility characterized by resilience within the framework of future total defence. By contributing new knowledge and insights in this area, the study aims to fill the knowledge gaps that previous research has not addressed, while also aspiring to provide ideas for further research and development in the field of total defence and municipal resilience.

How do the strategic documents of the Republic of Lithuania contribute to the efforts of its institutions and organisations to build societal resilience to threats? Although the need for overall preparedness is recognised, the division of responsibilities remains unclear and fragmented. This thesis identifies the gaps between policy and its implementation by examining the strategic documents and expert opinions. The results show that the policies are summarising, visionary and directional. This leads to a lack of clarity for the institutions or to haphazard initiatives. By explaining the relationship between policy expectations and the actual willingness of the public to contribute to the defence of the state, this study contributes to the study of warfare. It also provides theoretical and empirical data for building and strengthening societal resilience in Lithuania. Promoting active dialogue, strengthening coordination between institutions and non-governmental organisations can strengthen societal resilience and thus promote better prepared national defence., Hur bidrar Republiken Litauens strategiska dokument till dess institutioners och organisationers ansträngningar att bygga samhällelig resiliens mot hot? Även om behovet av allmän beredskap erkänns, förblir ansvarsfördelningen oklar och fragmenterad. Denna avhandling identifierar klyftorna mellan politik och dess genomförande genom att undersöka de strategiska dokumenten och expertutlåtanden. Resultaten visar att policyn är sammanfattande, visionär och riktgivande. Detta leder till en brist på tydlighet för institutionerna eller till slumpmässiga initiativ. Genom att förklara sambandet mellan policyförväntningar och allmänhetens faktiska vilja att bidra till statens försvar, bidrar denna studie till krigsvetenskap. Den tillhandahåller också teoretiska och empiriska data för att bygga och stärka samhällelig resiliens i Litauen. Att främja aktiv dialog och stärka samordningen mellan institutioner och icke-statliga organisationer kan stärka samhällelig resiliens och därigenom främja en bättre förberedd nationellt försvar.

This thesis aims to study the role, function, and responsibility of municipalities in the Swedish total defence during periods of heightened preparedness. The method used in this thesis is a qualitative text analysis, and the material consists of public documents from state actors. The research question formulated is as follows: What role, function, and responsibility are municipalities expected to have within the future total defence during periods of heightened preparedness? To answer the research question, resilience has been used as a theoretical framework. The results show that municipalities are expected to take on a proactive role by working with anticipation and identification, as well as by preventing, mitigating, and preparing for crises. Additionally, municipalities are expected to have an adaptive capability and act reactively by implementing measures and restoring society to normalcy. Furthermore, although the concept of resilience is not explicitly mentioned in the analyzed documents, it is evident that municipalities are expected to have a role, function, and responsibility characterized by resilience within the framework of future total defence. By contributing new knowledge and insights in this area, the study aims to fill the knowledge gaps that previous research has not addressed, while also aspiring to provide ideas for further research and development in the field of total defence and municipal resilience.

This study investigates Swedish critical entities (CEs) ability to maintain function during up to three months of electricity supply disruptions. It also examines possible improvement measures, and how contextual cases (grey zone, heightened state of alert, war) influence CEs’ ability to maintain function during electricity supply disruptions. Expert elicitation was conducted with experts from eight CEs. The methodological approach provides an easily comparable base measure of critical flow disruption effects on CEs, which can be used for further analyses (e.g. quantifying societal consequences). From the analysis it is concluded that CEs are more vulnerable to outage length (hours/day) than duration (consecutive days with certain outage length). The ability for CEs to maintain function varies significantly and uncertainty of estimates increases with duration. CE function is generally worsened by contextual cases. Many identified improvement measures are CE-specific, but generic categories include improved supply solutions, joint coordination with interdependent actors, and alternatives to diesel auxiliary power. Adequately assigned deployment duties are essential during states of heightened alert and war. It might be timely to capture potential synergies with ongoing expansion of distributed electricity sources (e.g. solar, city-level battery storage facilities). It is concluded that improvement measures should be based on analysis of individual CEs ability to cope with prolonged electricity outages.

The concluding chapter reviews the EU’s handling of current crises and its search for sustainability and resilience. Beginning with its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing public health crisis which threatened to scupper the free movement of goods and people on the internal market, the chapter goes on to examine the EU’s recent actions in the area of the environment, climate change, financial stability, and immigration. The remainder of the chapter focuses on the challenges that the EU needs to overcome in order to achieve resilience, more precisely, through improved coordination of policy initiatives on the European and national levels, continued public support for resilience and sustainability, and a strengthened ability to exercise global leadership and influence, particularly in regard to the global agenda for climate mitigation and sustainable development.

The concluding chapter reviews the EU’s handling of current crises and its search for sustainability and resilience. Beginning with its response to the COVID-19 pandemic and the ensuing public health crisis which threatened to scupper the free movement of goods and people on the internal market, the chapter goes on to examine the EU’s recent actions in the area of the environment, climate change, financial stability, and immigration. The remainder of the chapter focuses on the challenges that the EU needs to overcome in order to achieve resilience, more precisely, through improved coordination of policy initiatives on the European and national levels, continued public support for resilience and sustainability, and a strengthened ability to exercise global leadership and influence, particularly in regard to the global agenda for climate mitigation and sustainable development.

This open access book shows how value sensitive design (VSD), responsible innovation, and comprehensive engineering can guide the rapid development of technological responses to the COVID-19 crisis. Responding to the ethical challenges of data-driven technologies and other tools requires thinking about values in the context of a pandemic as well as in a post-COVID world. Instilling values must be prioritized from the beginning, not only in the emergency response to the pandemic, but in how to proceed with new societal precedents materializing, new norms of health surveillance, and new public health requirements. The contributors with expertise in VSD bridge the gap between ethical acceptability and social acceptance. By addressing ethical acceptability and societal acceptance together, VSD guides COVID-technologies in a way that strengthens their ability to fight the virus, and outlines pathways for the resolution of moral dilemmas. This volume provides diachronic reflections on the crisis response to address long-term moral consequences in light of the post-pandemic future. Both contact-tracing apps and immunity passports must work in a multi-system environment, and will be required to succeed alongside institutions, incentive structures, regulatory bodies, and current legislation. This text appeals to students, researchers and importantly, professionals in the field., Data-Intensive Systems, Ethics & Philosophy of Technology

Societal resilience is an emerging paradigm. It refers to responses and strategies at the level of individuals, groups, organizations, and societies that are dealing with complex societal problems. At the same time, these responses contribute to innovative solutions that make society more resilient to current and future challenges. Societal resilience is, however, conceptually relatively undefined. This ambiguity is generally seen as problematic for scholarly work. In this chapter, the authors show that societal resilience is an important social concept because of its openness. To study resilience requires research methodologies that engage many actual stakeholders. Collaborating with societal stakeholders allows not only for co-generating knowledge of local relevance, but also stimulating a comprehensive and critical research approach. Therefore, the current openness of societal resilience does not constitute an undesirable theory gap. It enables the possibility of having plural perspectives based on the complex realities on the ground.

This paper examines the role of regional airports in regional and municipal crisis preparedness based on evidence from a case study in Sweden. During the summer of 2018, Sweden experienced some of the most extensive wildfires in modern time. Aerial suppression, for which airports provided the essential preconditions, played an important role in extinguishing these fires. This study includes analyses of public policies that shape the Swedish airport system as well as evidence from interviews and a workshop with stakeholders. The results show that an efficiently operated network of regional airports is critical not only for crisis management but also to ensure important societal services such as health care in sparsely inhabited regions. Moreover, access toquick transportation by air is necessary for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service, tourism industry, public institutions and private businesses. Additionally intensified by effects of both the public debate on flight shame and the COVID-19 pandemic on air-based transportation, the insights arising from this study emphasise that the currently one-sided focus on the number of passengers is an insufficient foundation for the Swedish airport system to construct a resilient base for regional development, crisis management and civil defense., Regionala flygplatser, Perspektiv på tillgänglighet

This paper examines the role of regional airports in regional and municipal crisis preparedness based on evidence from a case study in Sweden. During the summer of 2018, Sweden experienced some of the most extensive wildfires in modern time. Aerial suppression, for which airports provided the essential preconditions, played an important role in extinguishing these fires. This study includes analyses of public policies that shape the Swedish airport system as well as evidence from interviews and a workshop with stakeholders. The results show that an efficiently operated network of regional airports is critical not only for crisis management but also to ensure important societal services such as health care in sparsely inhabited regions. Moreover, access toquick transportation by air is necessary for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service, tourism industry, public institutions and private businesses. Additionally intensified by effects of both the public debate on flight shame and the COVID-19 pandemic on air-based transportation, the insights arising from this study emphasise that the currently one-sided focus on the number of passengers is an insufficient foundation for the Swedish airport system to construct a resilient base for regional development, crisis management and civil defense., Regionala flygplatser, Perspektiv på tillgänglighet

Societal resilience is an emerging paradigm. It refers to responses and strategies at the level of individuals, groups, organizations, and societies that are dealing with complex societal problems. At the same time, these responses contribute to innovative solutions that make society more resilient to current and future challenges. Societal resilience is, however, conceptually relatively undefined. This ambiguity is generally seen as problematic for scholarly work. In this chapter, the authors show that societal resilience is an important social concept because of its openness. To study resilience requires research methodologies that engage many actual stakeholders. Collaborating with societal stakeholders allows not only for co-generating knowledge of local relevance, but also stimulating a comprehensive and critical research approach. Therefore, the current openness of societal resilience does not constitute an undesirable theory gap. It enables the possibility of having plural perspectives based on the complex realities on the ground.

This paper examines the role of regional airports in regional and municipal crisis preparedness based on evidence from a case study in Sweden. During the summer of 2018, Sweden experienced some of the most extensive wildfires in modern time. Aerial suppression, for which airports provided the essential preconditions, played an important role in extinguishing these fires. This study includes analyses of public policies that shape the Swedish airport system as well as evidence from interviews and a workshop with stakeholders. The results show that an efficiently operated network of regional airports is critical not only for crisis management but also to ensure important societal services such as health care in sparsely inhabited regions. Moreover, access toquick transportation by air is necessary for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service, tourism industry, public institutions and private businesses. Additionally intensified by effects of both the public debate on flight shame and the COVID-19 pandemic on air-based transportation, the insights arising from this study emphasise that the currently one-sided focus on the number of passengers is an insufficient foundation for the Swedish airport system to construct a resilient base for regional development, crisis management and civil defense., Regionala flygplatser, Perspektiv på tillgänglighet

This paper examines the role of regional airports in regional and municipal crisis preparedness based on evidence from a case study in Sweden. During the summer of 2018, Sweden experienced some of the most extensive wildfires in modern time. Aerial suppression, for which airports provided the essential preconditions, played an important role in extinguishing these fires. This study includes analyses of public policies that shape the Swedish airport system as well as evidence from interviews and a workshop with stakeholders. The results show that an efficiently operated network of regional airports is critical not only for crisis management but also to ensure important societal services such as health care in sparsely inhabited regions. Moreover, access toquick transportation by air is necessary for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service, tourism industry, public institutions and private businesses. Additionally intensified by effects of both the public debate on flight shame and the COVID-19 pandemic on air-based transportation, the insights arising from this study emphasise that the currently one-sided focus on the number of passengers is an insufficient foundation for the Swedish airport system to construct a resilient base for regional development, crisis management and civil defense., Regionala flygplatser, Perspektiv på tillgänglighet

This paper examines the role of regional airports in regional and municipal crisis preparedness based on evidence from a case study in Sweden. During the summer of 2018, Sweden experienced some of the most extensive wildfires in modern time. Aerial suppression, for which airports provided the essential preconditions, played an important role in extinguishing these fires. This study includes analyses of public policies that shape the Swedish airport system as well as evidence from interviews and a workshop with stakeholders. The results show that an efficiently operated network of regional airports is critical not only for crisis management but also to ensure important societal services such as health care in sparsely inhabited regions. Moreover, access toquick transportation by air is necessary for the Swedish Prison and Probation Service, tourism industry, public institutions and private businesses. Additionally intensified by effects of both the public debate on flight shame and the COVID-19 pandemic on air-based transportation, the insights arising from this study emphasise that the currently one-sided focus on the number of passengers is an insufficient foundation for the Swedish airport system to construct a resilient base for regional development, crisis management and civil defense., Regionala flygplatser, Perspektiv på tillgänglighet

Children are valuable resources when it comes to disaster preparedness and they should no longer be seen as vulnerable. Since they spend about five days a week in school for almost the whole year, it is natural to consider preparing them for hazards while there. The purpose of the present research is to explore the perceived importance and feasibility of implementing school-based disaster preparedness (SBDP) in Sweden by the means of a case study of Ljungby municipality. Through the means of semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and secondary data, the author aims at understanding how the respondents - students and school staff - perceive SBDP, whether they see it as useful for their schools and how this type of disaster preparedness can contribute to their municipality’s resilience. The study concludes that the respondents understand the importance of SBDP and would like the administration to focus more on creating crisis plans for each school, as well as on both a short- and long-term strategic preparedness. In addition, a shift in focus from training only staff to including students as valuable resources and considering their levels of preparedness is noticed, as well as the need to increase the awareness regarding the available SBDP items in each school. The existent crisis plans might need additional consideration in order to ensure their adaptability to schools’ needs, capacities, lessons learnt and locations. Further studies are needed in regard to whether students-aimed SBDP can be used for creating a sustainable SBDP culture within communities, municipalities and later on, entire countries., I stället för att se barn som offer i kriser skulle man kunna använda deras anpassningsförmåga och förändringsvilja som resurser i krisberedskapsprocesserna. Ett sätt att öka samhällets motståndskraft kan vara att lägga till krisberedskap i skolans läroplan (s.k. School-based Disaster Preparedness, SBDP). Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka uppfattningar om SBDP i Sverige genom en fältstudie i Ljungby kommun. Studien utgår från tre frågeställningar: - Hur viktigt anser respondenterna att SBDP är för Ljungby kommun, och vilka aspekter av SBDP anser de är viktigast för kommunen att rikta sin uppmärksamhet mot? - Vilka SBDP-åtgärder har vidtagits av kommunen och vilken beredskapsförmåga (använd och oanvänd) finns hos de deltagande skolorna? - På vilka sätt kan SBDP bidra till kommunens eller samhällets motståndskraft? Frågorna besvaras genom 16 semistrukturerade intervjuer med skolpersonal och tjänstepersoner inom kommunens skolförvaltning, en enkät som fyllts i av 50 elever samt en analys av relaterade dokument, till exempel skolornas krisplaner och vägledande dokument från svenska myndigheter. Baserat på analysens resultat, är uppsatsens slutsats att respondenterna är medvetna om SBDP:s betydelse. Vidare har respondenterna tydliga förväntningar på kommunen när det gäller beslut som kan påverka deras säkerhet på kort och lång sikt. Dessutom bekräftar studien behovet av att inkludera eleverna i utbildningar och aktiviteter inom krisberedskap, med hänsyn till deras ålder och kapacitet. Uppsatsen visar också att krisplanerna måste anpassas utifrån skolornas behov och kapacitet för att säkerställa att de är hållbara och realistiska. Sist men inte minst, bör ytterligare studier genomföras angående hur denna åtgärd kan bidra till att skapa en långvarig krisberedskapskultur i Sveriges kommuner, eftersom SBDP är ett ganska nytt ämne., Preparing children and youth for disasters might be key to creating resilient and sustainable societies According to the United Nations, children and youth are the category of people most affected by disasters each year. It is therefore vital to teach them how to react in case a crises, in order to decrease their vulnerability and help them turn from passive victims into essential contributors to disaster risk reduction. We have all heard of Greta Thunberg and her untiring calls for environmental protection. Whether we agree with the way she forwards her message or not, she is a child and her efforts have proven one more time that children are our future and they should always be taken into consideration when talking about sustainability, resilience and adaptation. Both children and youth are valuable resources when it comes to disaster preparedness and they should no longer be seen as vulnerable. Instead of viewing them as vulnerable and passive objects of protection, it is now time to use their adaptability and readiness for change as resources to enhance disaster preparedness and societal resilience at large. Prepared children, resilient societies In order to decrease families’ vulnerabilities, increase communities’ resilience and accelerate recovery processes, it is crucial to enhance children and youth’s capacity to react to unexpected situations. Since schools are the place where they spend most of their time, it is essential to use these establishments as venues where youth and children are empowered to get ready for disasters. Schools are seen as key resources in enforcing societal resilience, due to their influence into the wider community and their capacities for creating resilient disaster preparedness cultures within communities, municipalities and by extension, entire countries. Exploring the importance of school-based disaster preparedness The importance of school-based disaster preparedness is given not only by the fact that children’s education is pr

Nature-based solutions (NBS) are inspired and supported by nature but designed by humans. Historically, governmental stakeholders have aimed to control nature using a top-down approach; more recently, environmental governance has shifted to collaborative planning. Polycentric governance and co-creation procedures, which include a large spectrum of stakeholders, are assumed to be more effective in the management of public goods than traditional approaches. In this context, NBS projects should benefit from strong collaborative governance models, and the European Union is facilitating and encouraging such models. While some theoretical approaches exist, setting-up the NBS co-creation process (namely co-design and co-implementation) currently relies mostly on self-organized stakeholders rather than on strategic decisions. As such, systematic methods to identify relevant stakeholders seem to be crucial to enable higher planning efficiency, reduce bottlenecks and time needed for planning, designing, and implementing NBS. In this context, this contribution is based on the analysis of 16 NBS and 359 stakeholders. Real-life constellations are compared to theoretical typologies, and a systematic stakeholder mapping method to support co-creation is presented. Rather than making one-fit-all statements about the “right” stakeholders, the contribution provides insights for those “in charge” to strategically consider who might be involved at each stage of the NBS project.

Children are valuable resources when it comes to disaster preparedness and they should no longer be seen as vulnerable. Since they spend about five days a week in school for almost the whole year, it is natural to consider preparing them for hazards while there. The purpose of the present research is to explore the perceived importance and feasibility of implementing school-based disaster preparedness (SBDP) in Sweden by the means of a case study of Ljungby municipality. Through the means of semi-structured interviews, questionnaires and secondary data, the author aims at understanding how the respondents - students and school staff - perceive SBDP, whether they see it as useful for their schools and how this type of disaster preparedness can contribute to their municipality’s resilience. The study concludes that the respondents understand the importance of SBDP and would like the administration to focus more on creating crisis plans for each school, as well as on both a short- and long-term strategic preparedness. In addition, a shift in focus from training only staff to including students as valuable resources and considering their levels of preparedness is noticed, as well as the need to increase the awareness regarding the available SBDP items in each school. The existent crisis plans might need additional consideration in order to ensure their adaptability to schools’ needs, capacities, lessons learnt and locations. Further studies are needed in regard to whether students-aimed SBDP can be used for creating a sustainable SBDP culture within communities, municipalities and later on, entire countries., I stället för att se barn som offer i kriser skulle man kunna använda deras anpassningsförmåga och förändringsvilja som resurser i krisberedskapsprocesserna. Ett sätt att öka samhällets motståndskraft kan vara att lägga till krisberedskap i skolans läroplan (s.k. School-based Disaster Preparedness, SBDP). Syftet med denna uppsats är att undersöka uppfattningar om SBDP i Sverige genom en fältstudie i Ljungby kommun. Studien utgår från tre frågeställningar: - Hur viktigt anser respondenterna att SBDP är för Ljungby kommun, och vilka aspekter av SBDP anser de är viktigast för kommunen att rikta sin uppmärksamhet mot? - Vilka SBDP-åtgärder har vidtagits av kommunen och vilken beredskapsförmåga (använd och oanvänd) finns hos de deltagande skolorna? - På vilka sätt kan SBDP bidra till kommunens eller samhällets motståndskraft? Frågorna besvaras genom 16 semistrukturerade intervjuer med skolpersonal och tjänstepersoner inom kommunens skolförvaltning, en enkät som fyllts i av 50 elever samt en analys av relaterade dokument, till exempel skolornas krisplaner och vägledande dokument från svenska myndigheter. Baserat på analysens resultat, är uppsatsens slutsats att respondenterna är medvetna om SBDP:s betydelse. Vidare har respondenterna tydliga förväntningar på kommunen när det gäller beslut som kan påverka deras säkerhet på kort och lång sikt. Dessutom bekräftar studien behovet av att inkludera eleverna i utbildningar och aktiviteter inom krisberedskap, med hänsyn till deras ålder och kapacitet. Uppsatsen visar också att krisplanerna måste anpassas utifrån skolornas behov och kapacitet för att säkerställa att de är hållbara och realistiska. Sist men inte minst, bör ytterligare studier genomföras angående hur denna åtgärd kan bidra till att skapa en långvarig krisberedskapskultur i Sveriges kommuner, eftersom SBDP är ett ganska nytt ämne., Preparing children and youth for disasters might be key to creating resilient and sustainable societies According to the United Nations, children and youth are the category of people most affected by disasters each year. It is therefore vital to teach them how to react in case a crises, in order to decrease their vulnerability and help them turn from passive victims into essential contributors to disaster risk reduction. We have all heard of Greta Thunberg and her untiring calls for environmental protection. Whether we agree with the way she forwards her message or not, she is a child and her efforts have proven one more time that children are our future and they should always be taken into consideration when talking about sustainability, resilience and adaptation. Both children and youth are valuable resources when it comes to disaster preparedness and they should no longer be seen as vulnerable. Instead of viewing them as vulnerable and passive objects of protection, it is now time to use their adaptability and readiness for change as resources to enhance disaster preparedness and societal resilience at large. Prepared children, resilient societies In order to decrease families’ vulnerabilities, increase communities’ resilience and accelerate recovery processes, it is crucial to enhance children and youth’s capacity to react to unexpected situations. Since schools are the place where they spend most of their time, it is essential to use these establishments as venues where youth and children are empowered to get ready for disasters. Schools are seen as key resources in enforcing societal resilience, due to their influence into the wider community and their capacities for creating resilient disaster preparedness cultures within communities, municipalities and by extension, entire countries. Exploring the importance of school-based disaster preparedness The importance of school-based disaster preparedness is given not only by the fact that children’s education is pr

In the fog and chaos of an emergency it seems difficult to determine which organisations to involve in the response in order to ensure that the organisational network is fit for purpose. In this paper we study three emergencies in the Netherlands in order to find out what patterns are detectable in the network of the responding organisations. Based on qualitative analysis we develop insights about how the composition of the response networks relates to the nature of the emergencies, and the impact they have on the community. We find the community to be an intertwined constellation of networks. A failure in this constellation may result in an emergency situation. The failure itself and any collateral effects from responsive actions ripple through the constellation of networks. We found that the emergency situation and the emergency response network mutually shape each other and are a reflection of each other.

The concept of resilience acquired academic momentum and pervaded a growing number of crosscutting disciplines along the second half of the twentieth century. Drawing on its epistemological flexibility, its implicit redefinition of agency and the inclusion of the parameters of uncertainty and the inevitability of crisis in its very core, it did not take long until the fields of International Relations and foreign policy-making paid thorough attention to its potential outreach and operationalization. Nor it is surprising that the European Union, imbued in a comprehensive review of its external strategy’s flaws and shortages, embraced the term as a means to underpin the paradigmatic bridge laid by the guidance of principled pragmatism. Yet, resilience-fostering can point at states or societies, and the authoritarian nature of Egypt’s regime compels to prioritize the latter, in accordance to EU’s democratic stance. The current paper will offer a brief review of EU foreign-policy approaches vis-à-vis Egypt, an European Neighbourhood Policy/Instrument walkthrough and it will aim at putting in quantitative terms what kind of resilience is the Union placing at the forefront. To conclude, a series of recommendations will be formulated for EU resilience strategy, El concepto de resiliencia captó el interés de la academia y penetró en un número progresivo y transversal de disciplinas a lo largo de la segunda mitad del siglo XX. Apoyándose sobre la flexibilidad epistemológica, la redefinición implícita de la agencia y la inclusión de los parámetros de incertidumbre e inevitabilidad de la crisis en su seno, las áreas de Relaciones Internacionales y diseño de política exterior no tardaron en posar su atención sobre su alcance y operacionalización. Tampoco es de extrañar que la Unión Europea, imbuida en una revisión integral de los defectos y carestías de su estrategia exterior, acogiera el término con afán de apuntalar el puente paradigmático que tiende el llamado pragmatismo con principios. Ahora bien, la promoción de la resiliencia puede apuntar a los estados o a las sociedades, y en este sentido, de acuerdo con la lógica pro-democrática de la UE, la naturaleza autoritaria del régimen de Egipto exigiría una priorización de aquella segunda dimensión. Este artículo pretende ofrecer un repaso ligero de los enfoques de política exterior de la Unión vis-à-vis Egipto, una guía a lo largo de la Política (o Instrumento) Europea de Vecindad, y procurará resolver en términos cuantitativos qué tipo de resiliencia sitúa la Unión en primera línea. A modo de conclusión, se ordenará una serie de recomendaciones para la estrategia de resiliencia de la UE

How the growing world population can feed itself is a crucial, multi-dimensional problem that goes beyond sustainable development. Crop production will be affected by many changes in its climatic, agronomic, economic, and societal contexts. Therefore, breeders are challenged to produce cultivars that strengthen both ecological and societal resilience by striving for six international sustainability targets: food security, safety and quality; food and seed sovereignty; social justice; agrobiodiversity; ecosystem services; and climate robustness. Against this background, we review the state of the art in plant breeding by distinguishing four paradigmatic orientations that currently co-exist: community-based breeding, ecosystem-based breeding, trait-based breeding, and corporate-based breeding, analyzing differences among these orientations. Our main findings are: (1) all four orientations have significant value but none alone will achieve all six sustainability targets; (2) therefore, an overarching approach is needed: “systems-based breeding,” an orientation with the potential to synergize the strengths of the ways of thinking in the current paradigmatic orientations; (3) achieving that requires specific knowledge development and integration, a multitude of suitable breeding strategies and tools, and entrepreneurship, but also a change in attitude based on corporate responsibility, circular economy and true-cost accounting, and fair and green policies. We conclude that systems-based breeding can create strong interactions between all system components. While seeds are part of the common good and the basis of agrobiodiversity, a diversity in breeding approaches, based on different entrepreneurial approaches, can also be considered part of the required agrobiodiversity. To enable systems-based breeding to play a major role in creating sustainable agriculture, a shared sense of urgency is needed to realize the required changes in breeding approaches, institutions, regul

Diversity in flood risk management approaches is often considered to be a strength. However, in some national settings, and especially for transboundary rivers, variability and incompatibility of approaches can reduce the effectiveness of flood risk management. Placed in the context of increasing flood risks, as well as the potential for flooding to undermine the European Union’s sustainable development goals, a desire to increase societal resilience to flooding has prompted the introduction of a common European Framework. We provide a legal and policy analysis of the implementation of the Floods Directive (2007/60/EC) in six countries: Belgium (Flemish region), England, France, the Netherlands, Poland, and Sweden. Evaluation criteria from existing legal and policy literature frame the study of the Directive and its effect on enhancing or constraining societal resilience by using an adaptive governance approach. These criteria are initially used to analyze the key components of the EU approach, before providing insight of the implementation of the Directive at a national level. Similarities and differences in the legal translation of European goals into existing flood risk management are analyzed alongside their relative influence on policy and practice. The research highlights that the effect of the Floods Directive on increasing societal resilience has been nationally variable, in part because of its focus on procedural obligations, rather than on more substantive requirements. Analysis shows that despite a focus on transboundary river basin management, existing traditions of flood risk management have overridden objectives to harmonize flood risk management in some cases. The Directive could be strengthened by requiring more stringent cooperation and providing the competent authorities in international river basin districts with more power. Despite some shortcomings in directly affecting flood risk outcomes, the Directive has positively stimulated discuss

Diversification of Flood Risk Management (FRM) Strategies is widely regarded as a necessary step forward in terms of lessening the likelihood and magnitude of flooding, as well as minimizing the exposure of people and property, and in turn the disruption, economic damage, health impacts and other adverse consequences that ensue when floods occur. Thus diversification is often heralded as an essential condition for enhancing societal resilience to flooding. However, an inevitable consequence of diversifying strategies and practices in FRM is that it can lead to fragmentation within FRM systems, in terms of the distribution of responsibilities between actors and governing rules enacted within different policy domains. This can prove detrimental to the effectiveness of FRM. Building upon the notion of fragmentation developed in legal and governance literature, this paper introduces the concept of ‘bridging mechanisms’, i.e. instruments that remedy fragmentation by enhancing interconnectedness between relevant actors through information transfer, coordination and cooperation. This paper develops a typology of both fragmentation and bridging mechanisms and analyzes their relations, partly drawing upon empirical research conducted within the EU ‘STAR-FLOOD’ project. In turn, this paper presents a novel interdisciplinary methodological framework for evaluating the degree and quality of the interconnectedness within fragmented domestic FRM systems. A pragmatic, flexible and broadly applicable tool, this framework is both suited for academic purposes, as well as for practically oriented analysis and (re)development of fragmented FRM systems, and other fragmented systems, within the EU and abroad.

We pursued the following three interconnected points: (1) there are unexplored opportunities for resilience scholars from different disciplines to cross-inspire and inform, (2) a systems perspective may enhance understanding of human resilience in health and social settings, and (3) resilience is often considered to be fractal, i.e., a phenomenon with recognizable or recurring features at a variety of scales. Following a consideration of resilience from a systems perspective, we explain how resilience can, for analytic purposes, be constructed at four scales: micro, meso, macro, and cross-scale. Adding to the cross-scale perspective of the social-ecological field, we have suggested an analytical framework for resilience studies of the health field, which incorporates holism and complexity by embracing an ecological model of cognition, something supported by epirical studies of organizations in crisis situations at various spatial as well as temporal scales.