As previous years, this year’s workshop will feature scholars and experts in the field of Societal Security and Safety. We are honoured to share that this year, the following three speakers will be holding seminars during the first day of the workshop:
Prof. Dr. Christian Webersik
Christian Webersik is a professor of Development Studies at the Department of Global Development and Planning at the University of Agder (UiA), Norway. Currently, Webersik is a research scientist at the Disaster Research Unit at the Freie University, Berlin. Webersik is also deputy director of the Centre for Integrated Emergency Management (CIEM), University of Agder (UiA). Before joining UiA, he was a Japan Society for the Promotion of Science – United Nations University (JSPS-UNU) Postdoctoral Fellow at United Nations University’s Institute of Advanced Studies (UNU-IAS). Before that, he was a Fellow at the Earth Institute at Columbia University hosted by the Center for International Earth Science Information Network (CIESIN). He holds a D.Phil. in politics and international relations from Oxford University.
Dr. Kerstin Eriksson
Kerstin Eriksson is a researcher at RISE, Sweden. Her work is in the areas of crisis and disaster management and focuses on aspects such as learning, resilience, preparedness and organisation. Kerstin’ work is interdisciplinary and currently she conducts research within three different but closely connected areas: (1) Crisis preparedness and resilience, (2) Organization of volunteers during crisis, particularly focusing on the forest fire in Västmanland, Sweden in 2014 and the multiple forest fires in Sweden during the summer of 2018 (3) Climate adaptation, focusing on sustainable distribution of responsibility for climate change adaptation, with flooding as the main case.
Specialist Director Ørjan Karlsson
Ørjan Karlsson works as a specialist director at the Norwegian Directorate for Civil Protection. He has extensive experience on international crisis management and preparedness through the UN, NATO and EU. Karlsson also has 7 years of military experience, including experience in international operations. He holds a master’s degree in sociology and is a member of the Crisis Response Journals advisory board.