Total defence, civil preparedness and health crises are issues that are widely discussed in the Nordic countries right now. Do universities have a role in that, and if so, what is it? That question was the theme whenthe Nordic Health Crises University Network, coordinated by the Centre for Health Crises at Karolinska Institutet, met in Norway at the end of October. Among other things, they organised a critical debate conference with specially invited participants.
Universities are relevant social actors that can contribute to total defence, not least by generating knowledge, but they also face challenges in their role. This was the premise formulated by the working group within the Nordic Health Crises University Network ahead of the critical debate conference they organised in Stavanger on 27 October. It opened up a discussion about the role of universities as, at the same time, independent actors and defenders of democratic values, and as part of the total defence of the Nordic countries. The participants at the conference also discussed whether they could agree on a number of recommendations aimed at actors at national, regional and local level, and within universities and the higher education sector. These included, for example, including universities in emergency preparedness planning, the need for guidelines to ensure both security and academic freedom, and funding. The outcome of the discussion will now be set out in a policy brief.
- A critical debate conference, is a format we have used before, including when we discussed lessons learned from COVID-19. It involves preparing a short background paper with clear proposals for areas of consensus and policy recommendations. Participants, who come from different backgrounds, read the background paper and raise objections and suggestions for improvement during the debate. We then take this with us, and in the end the result can look completely different from what was sent out - which is part of the point. In this way, we as a university can serve as an independent forum for complex issues, which is an important part of how we work at the Centre for Health Crises , says Anna Zorzet , strategic process manager at the centre and one of the moderators of the discussion.
Part of broader work within the network
After the critical debate conference, the project partners in the network gathered for an internal meeting. The partners are represent the six participating universities, all of which work in different ways and across different disciplines on issues related to health crises. The network is now in its second year, and the meeting covered, among other things, work on current and forthcoming scientific articles, policy briefs, the Nordic PhD and postdoc exchange administered by the network, and the planning of future activities.
- We organised an interesting two-day meeting here in Stockholm in spring 2026 , where we focused on how universities and researchers communicate with wider society during a crisis. We have since explored this further in scientific articles we have written, and we now look forward to continuing our work on the relationship between universities and wider society in crisis and preparedness, from our Nordic perspective, says Caroline de Groot at the Centre for Health Crises, which coordinates the network.
The expert role in an ongoing crisis is next
Next up for the network is an invitation-only meeting in Helsinki in April 2027, where the aim is to jointly and practically illustrate what researchers, in their role as experts, can contribute during an ongoing crisis.
