CRISMART arranges course for Estonian government officials

3 October 2011

CRISMART recently organized and carried out a four-day course on crisis communications for an Estonian delegation, consisting of fifteen people from various ministries and government agencies. The course begin with an overview of the Swedish crisis management system and followed by discussions on how various authorities and organizations in Sweden deal with crisis communication and how they work together on an everyday basis and during crises at the local, regional and central level. Thereafter, study visits to key organizations were arranged including the Swedish Civil Contingencies Agency (MSB), the Crisis Management Coordination Secretariat, the City of Stockholm, Swedish Radio, Swedish Television, the Stockholm County Administrative Board, and SOS Alarm. In order to even get a glimpse of how the private sector works with crisis communication and crisis management issues, a study visit was arranged with Scandinavian Airlines. These study visits not only provided valuable insight and knowledge, but also an opportunity to share experiences and make new contacts.

The course ended with a half-day simulation exercise in crisis communication led by Dr Eva-Karin Olsson at CRISMART. Here, the participants had the opportunity to consider and discuss the various crisis communication challenges and difficulties which an organization is faced with during a crisis.