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The article reports on the purposes and findings of Project East River (PER). This project is a study of United States' vulnerability to atomic assault and the measures to be undertaken subsidized by the government to reduce threat to the country. PER sets out its basic notion that the civil defense task can be managed given that it is divided into well-classified branches. In this way, the entire task can be incorporated to discharge all necessary responsibilities. PER has three great goals to be attained including adequate military defense, reduction of urban vulnerability and organization of a civilian civil defense.

A number of authors consider that the early period of US security and education (1950–1970) was in some way a ‘golden age’ where there was a prevailing societal orientation towards civil defence. This is supported, to some extent, through ‘Duck and Cover’ type activities in schools and in community preparedness efforts. This article considers whether this portrayal is necessarily correct in the case of adult education. From an analysis of previously classified historical archives in the US National Archives II at the University of Maryland, I consider the success of the civil defense adult education programme (CDAE), and earlier adult education courses, from 1950 to 1970. Rather than being a ‘bottom-up’ process, CDAE was imposed on educators directly through an executive order. There was considerable resistance to the CDAE from other areas of government, from states and from students. CDAE had limited success only so much as the Department of Health and Welfare (DHEW) was able to reconcile it with their own educational objectives. The article concludes by considering the implications of these findings for contemporary adult education for emergencies. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

‘Disaster education’ is a fledgling area of study in lifelong education. Many countries educate their populations for disasters, to mitigate potential damage and loss of life, as well as contribute to national security. In this paper, which draws on interview data from the German Federal Office for Civil Defence and Disaster Assistance and the Federal Agency for Technical Relief, archival research, analysis of websites and promotional materials as well as relevant academic literature, I examine disaster education and preparedness for national emergencies in Germany. I argue that it is not generally extended to the general public, rather confined to trained experts, decentralised, localised and exclusive. Theorising disaster education as a ‘civil defence pedagogy’, a type of public pedagogy, which contributes to shaping narratives of national identity, I argue that it is unlikely that Germany will develop a more inclusive, universal, formalised nor high-profile campaign in disaster education in the foreseeable future. This, I suggest, is due to narratives of the German democratic nation as secure, federal, peaceful and unified, which originated at the founding of West Germany in 1949, and continue to shape contemporary political narratives. [ABSTRACT FROM PUBLISHER]

In the cold war, the United Kingdom government devised a number of public education campaigns to inform citizens about the precautions that they should undertake in the event of a nuclear attack. One such campaign, Protect and Survive, was released to the general public and media in May 1980. The negative publicity this publication received is considered to be a reason why a successor publication was never released despite the increased risk of nuclear attack. Using recently released records from the UK National Archives the paper considers that, aside from this explanation, interlocking institutional objectives, rather than simply inertia, provide an explanation for this hiatus. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

This paper presents problem solving using heuristics and operational research in order to make appropriate decisions in emergency situations with a particular emphasis on the application of a heuristic model of team training for emergency situations. It is intended for military command and teaching personnel as well as for civil defense personnel (Department of Emergency Management) and local government authorities (administrative district chiefs and mayors - commanders). The heuristic approach to problem solving should enable adequate decision making for command staff from the local to the national level after the proclamation of emergency and a state of emergency in some regions or the whole territory of Serbia. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article presents a study which explores the willingness of the secondary school students of Estonia to defend the country and its connection with the national defence subject taught at school. It outlines the differences in the interest to defend one's country between the students who have taken the national defence course and those who have not. The study also reveals that passing the subject of National Defence Studies may raise the defence willingness of young people.

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This paper describes the experience of designing the curriculum and teaching the subject of Emergency and Civil Protection in a master's program in Spain, from 2006 to the present. With the restrictions set by key descriptors: civil protection, actions in emergencies and major accidents, and an assigned instructional time of 30 hours, the curriculum consists of 3 thematic units: Emergencies, Emergency Plan and Corporate Autoprotection Plan, and Actions. The methodological approach combines lectures with practical exercises, and overcoming the disadvantage of the lack of suitable notes or book for the study, the interest aroused in the students resulted in an egress level of over 80 percent, more than 20 master's theses about autoprotection plans have been defended, and a doctoral thesis is in progress. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

In 1975/76 "General people's defence and social self-protection" studies were introduced at the Faculty of Sociology, Political Science and Journalism. The studies were a product of the then defence doctrine that required the extensive defence preparedness of economic subjects and other civilian structures, and teaching of defence-related topics at high school and university levels of education. These needs were covered by civilian defence experts provided by the above mentioned studies. The latter created an opportunity to develop a new professional and scientific inter-disciplinary field, Defence Studies. The development of Defence Studies as a discipline was marked first of all by the definition of the research subject that was dispersed over various, not only social, sciences, the formation of theoretical concepts and selection of adequate methods of theoretical and empirical research, the introversion of scientific principles and academic norms, the formation of an autonomous but at the same time creative attitude towards the surroundings, especially towards politics and security practices, and a search for a reflection of its own theoretical and empirical findings in the international academic sphere. In recent times, the process of the 'epistemic realisation' of defence studies has been confronted with some problems that will be listed in the final part of the article. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR]

The article reports on a film designed for teaching civil defense to small city school children in the U.S. The motion picture was prepared by the U.S. Federal Civil Defense Administration, the Office of Education, and the National Education Association (NEA) after a survey conducted by the NEA revealed that schools in Mid Atlantic, Far Western states and Northeastern states, excluding the South west sates had well developed civil defense systems.

The article presents information on an intensive civil defense training course being developed for public schools by the Geneseo State Teachers College in Geneseo, New York. A training course has already been given to staff members, student teachers and interested parents, and a training manual is being developed in workshop sessions. The course aims to provide background on post-World- War-II developments and an increased understanding of the present national emergency.