Main research questions:

• What insights can be obtained from historical examples of preventive measures aimed at mitigating societal vulnerability to extreme weather events?
• Does climate change represent substantially new challenges for the system of civil protection?
• Could the effort to mitigate societal vulnerability to climate change generate a need for institutional change in the system of civil protection?

Project stages:

1. Scoping study of three players in the system of civil protection
2. In-depth study of how municipalities – in collaboration with civil protection authorities and citizens – have handled extreme weather events in the near past. Parallel case studies in Norway, Sweden, the Netherlands, and the United Kingdom.
3. Analysis. By means of the assembled material, answers to the first two research questions will be sought.
4. Constructive stage. By bringing different stakeholders together, we will shed light on the third research question. This stage also includes the production of final reports.