DISCIPLINE IN THE MAKING: LET’S DO IT TOGETHER

The purpose of this Nordic-Russian networking project is to launch an institutionalized cooperation between educational and research institutes from the Nordic countries and Russia in the field of Societal Security, dealing with all-hazard crisis management, in such areas as natural, man-made and technological hazards.

While the concept of Societal Security is ISO standardized, in the academic field there is a gap on how to analyse this concept in a rigorous systematic fashion. The concept of Societal Security, whose identity and boundaries are not yet fully established, goes under different labels in different countries.

The discipline relies to a considerable degree on interdisciplinary approaches, including elements most notably from Political Science, International Relations, Humanities, Law, Sociology, Psychology, Health Sciences, Organization Studies, Business Studies, Engineering, and Natural Sciences.

The project partnership reflects this interdisciplinary underpinning research in terms of research excellence framework.

The project is to be seen as piloting a more substantial cooperation in the current field between the participating institutions. It is based on two workshops, bringing together experts from universities having research and education in this field in order to compare the state of the art in each country. This task includes discussing the main research problems of the field, the theoretical approaches and methodologies used in this interdisciplinary field, the curricula of the related higher school education, and the teaching and learning methods used, including digitization and blended learning.

Beside sharing information, the aim is to identify the focal points of common interest and select and analyze in a systematic fashion, the most fruitful themes to conduct joint projects and educational cooperation. Thus, the project aims a being a start for a larger project cooperation and regular educational exchange.

The project will also function as a platform to discuss the national and international funding sources (e.g. Nordforsk and The Nordic-Russian Co-operation Programme in Education and Research) that could be utilized for joint project purposes.

This Project is funded by the Nordic Council of Ministers.