Arne Flåøyen, Director of NordForsk, says:
“Societal security and preparedness have become increasingly important for Nordic and Baltic co-operation. The Nordic and Baltic regions are open, democratic societies. This is a strength, but it also makes us vulnerable, and even in our part of the world, malicious actors are working to polarise and destabilise our societies. That is why it is necessary to know what is happening and how we can work against it. The seven projects will, in different ways, contribute new knowledge that can make us better prepared to withstand the threats.”
In Finland and Åland's presidency programme for the Nordic Council of Ministers this year, one of the main themes is also to strengthen societal security in the Nordic region. Earlier this year, the Nordic prime ministers issued a joint statement on strengthening preparedness and resilience.
Resilience and preparedness are also a major focus at NordForsk. For more than 10 years, NordForsk has allocated funds for research into societal security.
Most recently, there was a Call for Proposals on Antagonistic Threats Challenging Societal Security in the Nordic and Baltic countries, with a deadline of 12 June 2025.
Eighty-four projects applied for funding.
Of all the applications, seven projects have been awarded funding totalling NOK 90.7 million.
These are the seven new projects
Project title: Governance and resilience under antagonistic threats in the NB8 region in times of complex crisis (KOMKRIS)
Project leader: Sebastian Godenhjelm, University of Helsinki
Project partners: Finland, Norway, Sweden and Estonia
Project title: Resilience or Rupture? The Nordic Security Community in an Age of Antagonistic Threats (NORDSECURE)
Project leader: Mark Rhinard, Stockholm University
Project partners: Sweden, Denmark, Norway and Finland
Project title: Prioritizing Medical Preparedness for Health System Readiness – MedPREP
Project leader: Eline Aas, University of Oslo
Project partners: Denmark, Norway and Sweden
Project title: Enhancing resilience against biological threats in the Nordic and Baltic countries
Project leader: Tone Bjordal Johansen, Norwegian Institute of Public Health
Project partners: Norway, Denmark, Finland, Sweden and Lithuania
Project title: Digital twins to support civil risk awareness and societal preparedness
Project leader: Andrei Lobov, Norwegian University of Science and Technology
Project partners: Finland, Norway, Estonia and Lithuania
Project title: Playing for Democracy: Strengthening Youth Resilience Against Digital Threats in the Nordic-Baltic Region
Project leader: Thomas Nygren, Uppsala University
Project partners: Sweden, Finland, Norway and Estonia
Project title: The double edge of social media influencing: Participatory antagonism and communicative resilience in the Nordics
Project leader: Cecilia Cassinger, Lund University
Project partners: Finland, Sweden and Denmark
