Associate Professor of Societal Security: Civil society must be included in the national emergency plan

Feature article by Andreas Hagedorn Krogh, Associate Professor, Royal Danish Defence College, future Associate Professor and Head of Secure, Roskilde University (1/10)

If Denmark is to become more resilient, civil society must step in. Not only as a supplement to the professional efforts of the authorities, but as an equal partner in building a total emergency response, writes Andreas Hagedorn Krogh.

Climate change, hybrid threats and rising geopolitical tensions have made it clear: We need a new emergency preparedness view in Denmark. One that cuts across the board and that brings civil society right into the center.

When crises strike, civil society is often at the forefront. With their local presence, citizens typically react as zero-responders: On their own, they begin to solve urgent tasks before the first government efforts arrive. Organised volunteers also play a crucial role in society's crisis response. We saw this during the corona pandemic, when volunteers accompanied vulnerable citizens to vaccination and sat around the clock at the authorities' corona hotline.

And we have seen it during more acute incidents such as the shooting in Fields, where volunteers provided psychosocial support to those affected and relatives.

Hole in the safety net

International research confirms that the active participation of citizens and volunteers strengthens society's resilience.

The activation of civil society increases both the effectiveness and legitimacy of crisis management. A strong collaboration between authorities, civil society organisations, associations, resident groups and citizens mobilises and translates significant resources into collective action.

At the same time, it helps to increase the trust and cohesion that the increasing hybrid attacks and disinformation campaigns are trying to dismantle.

Unfortunately, civil society still plays far too little role in the national approach to societal security and preparedness in Denmark.

Since the end of the Cold War, we have created a contingency plan with high technical professionalism, but low popular support.

Whereas civil society was previously integrated into a broad civil defence, from the 1990s onwards the focus was on specialised government efforts.

The result of the political and administrative priorities of the past decades is that we today have a significant gap in the fine-meshed network of actors and capacities we call societal security. A hole that we must now do everything to weave together.

The road to a truly holistic total preparedness model, as we know from our Nordic sister countries, is long.

In Finland, and to some extent also in Sweden, a functioning total defence was maintained even after the collapse of the Soviet Union. This has made it much easier to turn up the heat, now that it is really needed.

In Norway, the situation was taken stock of in 2014 and the work on broad societal security was boosted. In their national total emergency plan, the business community and associations are included as equal partners in an overall emergency preparedness. We could learn from this in Denmark.

Good tactics are not enough

The need has also been seen in the EU. The European Commission's preparedness strategy recommends a whole-of-society approach, where local communities, businesses and knowledge institutions are systematically involved in building resilience.

The strategy is based on the so-called Niinistö Report, which emphasises the need for a broad mobilisation of all actors in society in light of the new threat landscape.

Although the Ministry of Civil Protection and Emergency Management has taken a year to get in place, the government and the authorities seem to understand the burning platform and the urgent need for action in the area.

The Ministry has recently supplemented its advice on the establishment of household-based home preparedness with a template for local emergency plans that can be used by housing associations and local communities.

At the organisational level, a national Forum for Civil Society has been established with over 40 organisations that have decided to enter into a broad emergency response partnership with a focus on vulnerable citizens and vulnerable families.

There are good beats. But if Denmark is to make serious use of the resources that civil society possesses, much more is needed.

Civil society must get on board

We must think fundamentally new and initiate measures on three fronts.

First: The authorities must involve relevant partners in the development of a total preparedness model that recognizes civil society as a key emergency response actor.

This means that volunteers and organisations are not only understood as a supplement to the primary government effort, but as an integral part of an overall emergency response.

Second: Permanent cooperation platforms must be established and developed that can provide a stable framework for systematic co-creation of preparedness across sectors.

Here, public and private actors will be able to continuously form a common threat and risk picture, develop cross-cutting contingency plans and plan joint crisis exercises.

One could imagine such platforms on several levels and with different geographical boundaries.

Thirdly, clear agreements must be made locally on roles, responsibilities and resource use in the event of major accidents, disasters and crises, so that civil society can act as a reliable partner – without losing its autonomy.

In order to collaborate effectively under pressure, it is essential that you have knowledge of each other's capacities and competencies, and that you know what you can count on.

In addition to such organisational and management measures, there is a need for concrete initiatives that breathe life into the relationships and create fertile ground for a broadly anchored emergency preparedness.

How about a Danish emergency preparedness week based on the Swedish model, where debates, events and activities bring citizens, authorities and local communities closer together?

What about local emergency preparedness exercises, where associations and the business community participate side by side with state and municipal emergency actors? What about emergency education in schools that can enlighten, de-dramatize and create joint action in an otherwise uncertain time?

If we want to make Denmark more resilient, we must get civil society on board. Not only as a peripheral supplement to the professional efforts of the authorities, but as an equal partner in building a holistic total emergency response.