The individual’s ability to prepare: What significance does this have for the total defence and societal safety? A study of how citizen preparedness is related to municipal emergency preparedness planning

Abstract

The world is changing. Some things get better while others get worse. We live in a vulnerable society and societal safety is something that both occupy most of us and is a safety factor in our everyday life. The authorities are responsible for societal safety, but it is also a responsibility for each of us to create common safety and an individual sense of security. The societal safety work is governed by the overriding principles of equality, proximity, responsibility and cooperation. The principles will ensure the best possible prevention and management of crises but are criticized for creating a fragmented preparedness in a society based on ministerial rule and local autonomy. Nevertheless, the future will not wait for us to solve this issue and we are facing a world that is far more complex than we can possibly imagine. Therefore, authorities have recognized the need to utilize all resources of the society. This also includes the individual. The Directorate for Civil Protection in collaboration with city of Oslo have in this context developed a campaign to raise awareness of how citizens can better prepare should a critical situation arise due to the race with climate crisis, extensive technological development and an increase in global political instability. Citizen preparedness is as complex as the complexity we surround ourselves with. This study has therefore focused on the various elements of a society that affects citizen-preparedness, from a government perspective. With the aforementioned background as a point of departure, the purpose of this study is to investigate how citizen preparedness is related to municipal emergency preparedness planning in light of the campaign “you are part of Norway’s emergency preparedness”. The thesis concludes that the work on citizen preparedness is arguably not satisfactory. However, there are many factors that underlie this conclusion which needs to be accounted for and reflected on as the features municipalities are facing are reaching new peaks every day. First and foremost, citizen preparedness has reappeared again after the fall of the Soviet Union, in a more modern and vulnerable world. Furthermore, it is about the technological breakthroughs that affect our lives both for the better, but also for the worse. At the same time, we have institutional factors that prevent us from interacting across the range of actors operating in our society. And this is just the tip of the iceberg because social processes also influence how municipalities can best possibly enhance citizen preparedness.