Key Note Speaker Aistė Balžekienė, Professor, Kauno technologijos universitetas
Proximity and Risk: Challenges for Societal Resilience in Baltic States
Presentation at the 9th SRA-E Nordic annual conference Nordics, Baltics and the Arctic in Transition Uncertainties and Opportunities for Risk Analysis
The Baltic States occupy a strategic frontier where energy security concerns, geopolitical tensions and climate vulnerability intersect in complex ways. Baltic states face “energy trilemma”, characterised by the competing imperatives of securing reliable energy supplies under conditions of geopolitical instability, fulfilling the EU Green Deal’s decarbonization ommitments, and managing the socioeconomic pressure of rising household energy costs. Climate change exposure in the Baltic States is characterised by rising temperature extremes, more frequent extreme weather events, and heightened flood risks. These intertwined pressures foster distinctive perceptions of risk in Baltic states, producing spatially and politically constructed “risk-scapes” that influence national and regional governance.
This keynote will examine how proximity shapes risk perception and societal resilience, with examples from the changing landscapes of risk in the Baltic States in the conditions of polycrises. It will draw on the results from research rojects that highlight the socio-spatial dimensions of risk perception and social vulnerability.
