To Örebro University

This chapter introduces a mixed-motive model for the practice of risk communication for preparedness in a pre-crisis and pre-disaster phase. Rather than describing how research is done or presenting research results from a single study, this chapter focuses on how communication practitioners can integrate the extensive, but not always congruent, body of existing communication-related risk and preparedness research, in order to understand and reflect on their risk communication practice. The model especially aims to support practitioners in creating a holistic understanding of their own ongoing or future “communication practice” with the goal of increasing society’s level of crisis preparedness and resilience.

Denna rapport undersöker vad som utmärker medborgarengagemanget i hemberedskap efter inledningen av Rysslands fullskaliga anfallskrig, samt hur ett aktivt förhållningsätt till hemberedskapsfrågor i kampanjsammanhang formas i de oroliga tiderna. Rapporten är en del av avrapporteringen från forskningsprojekt Nya förutsättningar för hemberedskapskampanjer? Projektet har genomförts vid Örebro universitet.

Increasing numbers of people are spending more and more time in digital landscapes, with many still unknown consequences for crisis and emergency management. This exploratory, in-depth, qualitative interview study (N=14) explores conceptions about local and individual crisis and emergency preparedness among a small group of young adults representing the most digitally savvy generation in Sweden. The results show that the respondents exhibit a complex and ambivalent attitude to crisis and emergency preparedness issues. Considering their digital habits and skills, the respondents emphasize their own responsibility, social ties, and expectations of help from the authorities and the local community when describing how they intend to face and manage a crisis in practice. This exploratory study contributes preliminary and tentative theoretical knowledge to a highly limited body of work specifically addressing citizens’ crisis and emergency preparedness in a digitalized world.

Using the Risk and Vulnerability Assessment (RVA) as a lens, this study examines the making of risk communication in Swedish municipalities by comparing two central professions in this work, safety and communication. Sweden's decentralised responsibility for risk preparedness means that municipalities are given a central role in promoting increased preparedness among residents and local actors. However, there is little guidance on how to organise the work and how to coordinate between the different professions involved. Municipal officials are tasked with developing strategies to implement national policies, including conducting and communicating RVA. The study is comparing two central professions in Swedish municipalities' risk communication, safety, and communication, to analyse their views on central tasks and perceptions of their practice. The theoretical approach is based on risk communication and institutional theory, and the empirical material consists of an interview study with both safety and communication officers (N = 36). The findings reveal that while both professional logics are active in municipal risk communication, interactions, and negotiations between them are somewhat limited. The organisational structure of the RVA favours the logic of safety officers, which has implications for how risk communication is made in practice. The article concludes by discussing what effect this may have on preparedness.

Under sista åren har samhällets insatser för att informera och motivera invånarna i Sverige till hemberedskap intensifierats. Men vilka medborgare är det som engagerar sig och som väljer att ”lyssna” till de statliga kampanjerna? Resultaten i detta kapitel av den nationella SOM-undersökningen visar att många lyssnar, intresserar och engagerar sig i linje med statens önskningar. Men alla lyder förstås inte myndigheterna blint, åtminstone inte när det kommer till att se om sin fysiska hemberedskap. När det gäller nivån på engagemanget hos olika medborgargrupper kvarstår – eller möjligen förstärks – klassiska klyftor kopplade till social bakgrund, men också beroende på sådant som graden av politiskt engagemang, tillit till andra människor samt exempelvis förtroendet för myndigheter. De individer som ofta bedöms ha bättre förutsättningar i grunden för att möta samhällskriser utan samhällets hjälp, är också de som visar de jämförelsevis högsta engagemangsnivåerna i den statliga hemberedskapsdiskursen, i de oroliga kampanj- och kristiderna.

At a time when disasters, pandemics, pollution, and other crises gain prominence, local governments bear a crucial responsibility for effective risk communication. Yet, there remains a gap in our understanding of how municipalities approach risk communication before a crisis occurs. This qualitative study, involving seven focus groups and 29 semistructured interviews across two Nordic countries, raises questions about ownership of municipal risk communication: What challenges do municipalities face in managing ownership in risk communication? How does the organization of communication influence municipal risk communication? The results underscore three key considerations: First, there is a critical need for municipalities to engage in definitional clarification of risk and crisis communication. Establishing a shared understanding is paramount for effective communication strategies. Second, reframing uncertainty in municipal risk communication ownership as an opportunity is suggested. Embracing the inherent uncertainties and dependencies can offer a valuable perspective. Lastly, recognizing the underappreciation of risk communication emphasizes the imperative for municipal decision makers to address resource allocation issues. This involves ensuring that communication professionals have the confidence and resources needed, vis-à-vis other functions involved in risk management.

Responsibility awareness is a vital component of several countries’ crises preparedness policies. In recent years there has also been a formal shift in responsibility, from state level to regional and local levels, as well as to households. The shift is emphasized in risk communication activities targeted at the citizens. However, even with the close connection between risk communication and responsibility for risk prevention and preparedness measures, surprisingly little is known about the relationship between communicating responsibility, and the effects on responsibility awareness and self-preparedness. The aim of the study is to identify how citizens’ reception of responsibility messages concerning a crisis event, influence how residents view their own responsibility awareness and self-preparedness intent. In our study we selected a cyber-crisis scenario as a case to prepare for. A post-test only quasi-experimental cross-sectional survey research design conducted on data collected from 3395 survey participants of the Citizen panel revealed that the responsibility messages with the government taking almost all the responsibility, does not lead to a decrease in the citizens’ own responsibility awareness, and that a responsibility message with shared responsibility but also a message where the citizen is left to their own devices, both lead to an increased own responsibility awareness. However, neither of the responsibility messages lead to an increased self-preparedness intent.

Land remediation is an important part of restoration measures after a radioactive fallout containing long-lived fission products such as 137Cs. In this multidisciplinary study, we focused on three main issues related to remediation of contaminated urban areas. First, we assessed how much decontamination contributes to reducing resident radiation exposure and how much this reduction depends on the timing of implemented measures. Second, we calculated direct and indirect costs of decontamination in an industrialized country such as Sweden. Finally, in a survey study, we considered reactions of Swedish citizens to being given the hypothetical option of moving to a site decontaminated after radioactive fallout and how this predicted response might influence the design of contingency plans. The main findings are that clean-up operations must be done within the first few years after a fallout to contribute significantly to reducing residual dose. If conducted within 1-2 years, large-scale decontamination can, on average, avert 20-200 manSv per km2 residential area and unit ground deposition of 137Cs (1 MBq). The estimated direct costs (in 2020 purchasing power) would amount to 100 million Euro per km2 decontaminated residential area (comparable to Japanese estimates after the Fukushima accident), generating 39,000 m3 of radioactive waste on average, mainly in the form of 137Cs-contaminated topsoil. In our survey study of 2291 Swedish respondents about their willingness to return to decontaminated homes, women, families with resident children, and high-income earners exhibited more skepticism about returning, even if authorities were to deem it safe. The demographic pattern in attitudes was similar to that found among evacuees in the Fukushima prefecture after 2011. We conclude that predefined ranges of measured 137Cs ground deposition can be used as guidance for rescue leaders in the early post-accident phase in long-term planning for affected areas. This planning should include timing and intensity of decontamination measures, duration of evacuation, and risk communication to citizens. Because some citizens expressed both high risk perception and risk aversion, however, timely and dialogic communication is unlikely to limit a shift after the incident to an older and more male-dominated population composition. There is a risk that those who can afford to do so will move away, whereas people whose wealth is locked in property (houses or businesses) will feel stuck. Perceptions of unfairness may fray the social fabric and complicate resettlement, which in some cases may mean inefficient outlay of decontamination costs. We believe that the issue of monetary compensation to affected residents requires priority in future work.