A Norwegian demonstration project on early warning in relation to natural disasters has been noticed by the Norwegian Defence Committee.

The demonstration project is a part of the Northern Periphery project Clim-ATIC (www.clim-atic.org), and the County Governor of Sogn og Fjordane is in charge of this part of the Norwegian Clim-ATIC activity. Clim-ATIC’s work on early warning is mentioned in the Defence Committee’s recent proposition Societal Safety and Security – Collaboration and Cooperation (”Samfunnssikkerhet – samvirke og samordning”). Under the heading Rescue and civil protection, the Committee writes that although modern and efficient systems of early warning are currently available, they are not aware of any cases of implementation in Norway. The Committee urges the Ministry of Justice to proceed with testing such systems based on telecommunication, and to report back to the Storting (the Norwegian parliament).

Moreover, Committee members from the Labour Party and the Socialist Left Party stress that ”the Ministry is working on several projects, among others a project called ”Clim-Atic” [sic] with the County Governor of Sogn og Fjordane.

- This confirms a fact we are already aware of – namely that our demonstration project looks at a highly important and relevant issue, says Haavard Stensvand, Head of Civil Protection and Emergency Planning at the County Governor’s Office in Sogn og Fjordane. Stensvand is the coordinator of the Norwegian demonstration project, which seeks to carry out a trial warning in a municipality at risk of natural disasters. The community rehearsal is to be carried out and evaluated by late 2010.