By Laurits Rauer Nielsen, Teacher and researcher, Emergency and risk management University College Copenhagen
Studying emergency management volunteers through emergency management plansPresentation at the 9th SRA-E Nordic annual conference Nordics, Baltics and the Arctic in Transition Uncertainties and Opportunities for Risk Analysis
Author: Laurits Rauer Nielsen
This presentation investigates how emergency management plans can be used to study volunteerism in Danish municipal fire brigades. Volunteerism is essential for the scaling ability of emergency management organisations (EMO) as
accidents and disasters are characterised by limited predictability and increasing complexity. This is particularly the case
under conditions of climate change and the geopolitical development with the return of war to the European scene.
Studying volunteerism in emergency management planning is a new approach to studying volunteerism and scalability in emergency management which seeks to utilize emergency management plans as a mirror of current praxis. The
plans must be reviewed in every 4-year municipal electoral period, so the chosen approach enables follow-up research in
the next iteration of emergency management plans in the next electoral period and thereby constitutes a cost-effective
research strategy for following the development of Danish fire brigades.9th SRA-E Nordic annual conference Nordics, Baltics and the Arctic in Transition
Uncertainties and Opportunities for Risk Analysis
Bio:
Laurits Rauer Nielsen is a Geographer and emergency management practitioner through decades. He teaches at the emergency and risk management bachelor’s degree programme at the University College Copenhagen and does research in citizen involvement and volunteerism in emergency management as well as crisis management.
