Conference reports How to be prepared? Governance for societal resilience in the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe

With the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, hybrid and conventional security threats to the Baltic Sea region and Eastern Europe became ever more imminent. The case of Ukraine shows that societal resilience and resistance can be crucial for ensuring national defence in an asymmetric war, in addition to savvy military operations. Yet, how can we understand and measure societal resilience in relation to national security and what governance modes in the Baltic Sea region and Eastern Europe can support it? These were the questions that scholars and practitioners discussed at the conference “How to be prepared? Governance for societal resilience in the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe”, which took place on 12-13 October 2023 at Södertörn University Center for Baltic and East European Studies.

Published on balticworlds.com on July 4, 2024

Abstract

With the full-scale Russian invasion of Ukraine, hybrid and conventional security threats to the Baltic Sea region and Eastern Europe became ever more imminent. The case of Ukraine shows that societal resilience and resistance can be crucial for ensuring national defence in an asymmetric war, in addition to savvy military operations. Yet, how can we understand and measure societal resilience in relation to national security and what governance modes in the Baltic Sea region and Eastern Europe can support it? These were the questions that scholars and practitioners discussed at the conference “How to be prepared? Governance for societal resilience in the Baltic Sea Region and Eastern Europe”, which took place on 12-13 October 2023 at Södertörn University Center for Baltic and East European Studies.

The report presents the summary of these discussions according to the thematic streams of the conference. Section 1, Local Agency, explores the role of local self-government and domestic civil society in sustaining societal resilience and defence against a direct invasion focusing on Ukraine. Section 2, Digital Tools for Resilience, explores the vulnerabilities and advantages of digital technologies for resisting cyber-attacks and supporting resistance during conventional warfare, drawing on cases from Ukraine. Section 3, disinformation, covers response strategies, solutions and challenges in multiple regional cases. Section 4, ethnolinguistic diversity, addresses institutional arrangements to harness the advantages and mitigate associated risks to societal resilience in the broad selection of regional cases. Section 5 summarises participants’ conceptual discussion on understanding, capturing and measuring societal resilience.

The report is to be found for free download as a pdf here>>

Oleksandra Keudel