Natural Disasters and Societal Safety

Closing Comments

Tore Aasland, Chair, Norwegian UNESCO Commission (2013-2016), Formerly

Minister of Research and Education, Norway.

toraaaslandϭϮϯ@ŐŵĂŝů͘ĐŽŵ

The Norwegian Academy of Science and Letters, the Norwegian Academy of

Technological Sciences and the Research Council of Norway together took the

topical initiative to arrange this worthwhile seminar on the topical subject of

“Natural Disasters and Societal Safety”. The lecturers and participants came from a

broad spectrum of highly specialised scientific experts, practitioners and

stakeholders, and authorities with expertise in co-operation and co-ordinated action.

Society needs meeting arenas such as this cross-disciplinary seminar.

Academia needs to be reminded of the urgency and the experience from practice, be

it from the Norwegian Public Road Administration, the Norwegian National Rail

Administration and energy companies, or emergency responders to everyday hazards

such as the fire authorities, the police authority and the Norwegian “Search and

rescue” organisation. Conversely, the practitioners need the scientific contribution

and feedback from academia. Furthermore, research is needed across discipline

boundaries, and to promote radical innovation. The seminar successfully

demonstrated such needs, and that that there is a basis in Norway for even greater

synergy.

There was wide consensus on the need to strengthen the knowledge base on

natural hazards and societal safety. My personal recommendation is that scientific/

societal co-ordination and co-operation be strengthened in parallel, and that common

actions be recognised as more than co-ordination and co-operation. Successful

common actions also require operative resources at both the regional and local plan.

My hope is that the initiative taken by the scientific community and the

research organisations to promote co-operation, sharing of knowledge and co-

ordination among academia, practitioners and public stakeholders will continue and

be strengthened in the future. The Ministry of Justice and Public Security

has an

earmarked responsibility in the management of risks and the mitigation of

consequences associated with natural hazards. Furthermore, research organisations

and individual researchers need to recognise their responsibility to advance the

knowledge in this field, and to make this knowledge available for society. The

seminar has stimulated a sharing of know-ledge and contributed to strengthening the

trust among politicians, decision-makers, stakeholders, industry and scientists and

will thereby contribute to increased public safety.