Study visit to Sweden and important milestones for the Student Barents Rescue Exercise: Wildland Fires

Below you can find the report of the Study visit by Natalia Andreassen, Lead of the Thematic Network on Arctic Safety and Security, Nord University. 

The purpose of the project “Student Barents Rescue Exercise: Wildland Fires” is to further develop the joint student exercise and network activities conducted by the UArctic Thematic Network on Arctic Safety and Security. The UArctic networking activities have the purpose to strengthen international partnership, increase overall understanding of contemporary challenges of wildland fires in the Arctic, and to develop flexible education activity between educational programs within the fields of emergency preparedness, prevention and cross-border response in the region.

Student Barents Rescue Exercise
The Student Barents Rescue exercise has been developed through a consortium collaboration including UiT – the Arctic University of Norway (it’s team of the Bachelor in International Preparedness in Harstad) and Nord university (it’s Center for Crisis Management and Collaboration – Nordlab at Business School) in Norway, Mid-Sweden University in Sweden and Laurea University of Applied Sciences in Finland. 
The exercise was developed based on the intergovernmental cooperation in the Barents Euro-Arctic region. While the student exercise is successfully running over six years already, the ever-increasing complexity in circumpolar crisis management collaboration and changes in the intergovernmental cooperation in the Barents Euro-Arctic region, raise the demand for the updated concept. “In the spirit of the Barents Rescue exercise tradition”, a new search and rescue collaboration exercise Rescue Borealis is being developed and will take place in Finland in autumn 2025. Our student concept also needs a renewal of the baseline framework and the name.

During our visit, we reached several exciting milestones:

• Agreed on a new name for “Student Barents Rescue” which is from now on “Student Arctic Collaboration”
• Planned improvements and future joint publications
• Discussed dissemination strategies for 2025-2026
• Outlined steps for flexible education activities

First row from left to right: Rune Elvegård (Nord University), Erik Henriksen (UiT – the Arctic University of Norway), Olof Oscarsson (Mid Sweden University), Emelie Johanne Johansen Wold (Nord University), Øystein Klemetsen (UiT – the Arctic University of Norway)

Second row: Natalia Andreassen (Nord University), May Grete Jørgensen Hass (UiT – the Arctic University of Norway), Sophie Kolmodin (Mid Sweden University), Anja Aatsinki (Laurea University of Applied Sciences), Hanne Austerheim (Nord University), Mikko McFeely (Laurea University of Applied Sciences)

Simulation labs
One of the highlight of the trip was a visit to the RCR Simulation Lab, which is part of the Mid Sweden University. Simulation environments can be replicas of actual real places or ones created digitally. Different events can take place in the presented environment. Here participants can experience a particular event with the aim of developing preparedness. Simulation labs like the one in Sweden and the one at Nord university are important for learning through role-play and team discussions. Such labs are innovations that can provoke new ideas and stimulate creative processes.

Flexible education on wildland fires
The scenario of this exercise has so far been connected to the wildland fire preparedness and response in the regions of northern Norway, Finland and Sweden. The current climate change situation demands to strengthen collaborative capabilities in the Circumpolar Arctic. As the Arctic warms, the nature of wildland fires in the region is changing. Wildland fires across the Northern hemisphere have notably increased in frequency, severity and area across the Arctic over the past several years. Therefore, improving overall understanding and awareness of cross-border collaboration in the case of wildland fire should be in focus for education. 

Photo by: Adrian Svendsen Bensvik
Flexible education at the Center for Crisis Management and Collaborations - Nordlab, Nord University

This spring, Center for Crisis Management and Collaboration – Nordlab at Nord Business School has launched a 5ECTS-course on Wildland fires in the Arctic

This course provides an introduction to forest fires in the Arctic, challenges related to the environment, climate and geography, as well as crisis management and collaboration. As part of the course, students participated in the exercise Students Barents Rescue which took place in collaboration with universities in Norway, Sweden and Finland. Applications to this course will be available in Autumn.

First picture: Risk and Crisis Research Simulation Lab in Östersund, Mid-Sweden University

Contact persons are:

Natalia Andreassen natalia.andreassen@nord.no

Rune Elvegård rune.elvegard@nord.no

Emelie Johansen Wold emelie.j.wold@nord.no