There are numerous civil security themed forums and platforms in Europe, focusing on either specific aspects or a wide scope of civil security topics in Europe. But where to turn to in case of security threats in the Baltic Sea Region? Whom to face security challenges with? Challenges that each state cannot face alone: floods, forest fires, or heat waves caused by the climate change are common for all BSR countries. The need for such an interface that creates meaningful connections of civil security actors for problem solving has been voiced repeatedly in the recent years.
The Pan-Baltic Cross-Sectoral Innovation in Societal Security project (BALTinnoSEC) led by the CBSS Secretariat, aims to answer this need. Funded by the Swedish Institute, BALTinnoSEC’s aim is to investigate the feasibility of an interface, connecting civil security actors in constellations, focused on tackling risks, specific to BSR. The interface is envisioned as a problem-solving platform or forum for regular off- & online meetings of practitioners, researchers and business, thus sharing access to the latest management solutions and technologies, cutting costs and time for all involved. Partners will analyse existing forums & platforms (civil security events & projects) and the market of solution providers. Based on the analysis a concept of the platform will be elaborated and tested in a pilot forum (planned to be held in late autumn 2022), consisting of small-size risk-specific hackathons and workshops. Lessons learned and the resulting blueprint for a full-size BSR civil security solution-oriented forum will be used to seek EU funds for a larger project.
On 24 February 2022, the project partners held the project’s kick-off meeting at the CBSS Secretariat in Stockholm. The main result of the discussions was the list of criteria for a successful pilot forum:
- The participants of the forum must come from different disciplines/sectors to make it as cross-sectoral as possible
- Participants should come mainly from the middle management roles – they are the main target group for the forum and will get the most added value out of it
- The participation of business is a must (both individual companies and associations/clusters)
- The format will include plenary sessions, “hackathons” and “speed dating” meetings
- The 14.3 and From Gaps to Caps projects’ results can be used as basis for choosing common topics in the future full-scale forum
- “Plenary session – two-three hackathons – evaluation questionnaire” format will be most effective and potentially repeatable for other issues
- Main outcomes of the forum will be new work relationships, increased knowledge, feeling of belonging to a wider community of experts, concrete ideas and potential solutions, recommendations and policy briefs.
- The pilot forum should tackle one specific common issue – to make the task more practical, concrete and achievable
The partners agreed that at the moment the topic of crisis communication is the most fitting to the needs of the region and the format of the pilot forum.
Next step in the project is a workshop in the beginning of June. During this workshop the partners will analyse the two reports, which will be produced in the project: about existing projects and initiatives on the topic of crisis communication and on the market overview of the existing solutions in the field.
Project coordinator:
The Council of the Baltic Sea States (CBSS) Secretariat,
Project partners:
- International Affairs Uni Department for Rescue Services, Finland
- Laurea University of Applied Science, Finland
- Hamburg Fire and Rescue Service, Germany
- The State Fire and Rescue Service of Latvia
- Fire and Rescue Department of Lithuania
- The Main School Fire Service (SGSP), Poland
- The National Headquarters of The State Fire Service of Poland (KG PSP), Poland
- Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), Sweden
Download project flyer
