18 / 140
16 HANS J. RØSJORDE
mitigation, preparedness, crisis handling, restructuring and repair, and learning
.
The Government’s new long-term plan for research and higher education has three
key objectives: to strengthen Norway’s competitiveness and innovation capabilities,
to help solve major societal challenges, and to develop research groups of excellence.
All three will contribute to improving the nation's ability to deal with natural hazards.
The Government has decided that public investment in R&D should be one
per cent of the national BNP and aims to reach this goal by 2019
−
2020. The increase
in public investment in R&D will be allocated within six long-term prioritised areas,
of which the ocean, the climate, and their challenges for societal development, are
crucial in the present context. JD has increased its investments in R&D in recent
years so that the budget for 2015 is approximately 45 million NOK. It has defined
the following strategies for public security and emergency preparedness for the
period of 2015
−
2018 that are of particular interest for public safety:
1) Increase the use of R&D as an active tool to strengthen dedicated activities
concerned with the maintenance and preparedness of public security.
2) Actively participate in implementing the long-term plan for research and
higher education, where the second aim of utilising research to a greater
degree for solving major challenges facing society has the broadest
application for natural hazards and disasters.
3) Participate actively and be an active supporter of others in relevant
programmes run by the Research Council of Norway.
4) Enhance dialogue with R&D groups and projects to strengthen knowledge-
based work for public safety.
5) Activate the use of R&D in the organisations that report to the Ministry.
6) Increase the resources dedicated to R&D and enhance the quality and
competence of the nation’s research in relevant fields of expertise.
The Ministry of Justice and Public Security has worked more systematically than
earlier with its research strategy to identify the competence needed in the sector. This
has revealed the Ministry’s areas of responsibility that have considerable need for
enhanced knowledge and awareness. Lack of knowledge is a hindrance both ways:
on the one hand, the administrative environment gets too little information on new
research results, while on the other hand, it utilises too scarcely the new knowledge
that it does receive.
The Ministry wants to have access to analyses and assessments of risk and
vulnerability in the public domain. Imposing security and preparedness regulations
can be a costly burden on industry, local councils and other public organisations, so
it is vital that it is focused on areas where the risks demand greatest priority. At the
same time, it must also be acknowledged that the assessment of the risk will itself
inevitably be associated with uncertainties. Decision makers and the population need
to live with and understand such uncertainties, and our society needs to be educated
to understand and accept the potential risks. Mitigation of present and future risks
must be achieved without escalating laws, regulations and measures that damage the
economy and jeopardise personal and human rights and the principles of justice. We