1. The ABC of Evacuation (in Estonian, trainers from the paramilitary Women’s Voluntary Defence Organisation):

The Crisis Research Centre’s civilian defence Crisis Skills Training Programme aims to provide critical knowledge and skills for dealing with crisis situations. 

“This is the Haabersti City District’s first civil defence project, with the goal of empowering the community through various trainings held in collaboration with experienced specialists in their field. By the end of May this year, we will have trained a number of housing association members and leaders to deal with various types of crises, as well as created a pool of basic resources for the community and City District administration to use in different crises,” said Hannes Nagel, head of the Crisis Research Centre.

🟧🟦 The opening seminar and the project of the crisis skills training programme of the Crisis Research Centre in Väike-Õismäe is funded by the Ministry of the Interior through the Civil Society Foundation.

Photos and a video bite from the opening seminar in Väike-Õismäe on January 16. (KRUK, 2025).

The visit to Äripäev radio was a follow-up to a longer article “No requirements – no shelters” (pages 26-29) in Ehitaja 4(275), published in Spring 2023. In the article, we highlighted the concerns of shelter policy, the lack of shelters, and the gap in legislation.

According to the programme, the state of shelter construction in Estonia is now relatively similar to that of spring 2023. “The shelter system in Estonia is currently based on public hiding places, which provide primary protection from flying objects. Unfortunately, public hiding places are not bomb shelters, and we still do not have them in Estonia,” Nagel stated.

The radio program also discussed the law amending the Emergency Situations Act. “A draft amendment to the Emergency Preparedness Act, which includes requirements for the construction of bomb shelters, has gone through the consultation stage, but there have been no responses. It’s encouraging that Finland, in particular, is setting an example. Bomb shelters, as defined by the new law, are specifically built for sheltering purposes, whereas public hiding places are previously existing buildings or parts of buildings adapted for this purpose, and thus do not provide equivalent protection,” said Nagel.

The visit to the radio can be summarised as follows. The state of crisis preparedness is concerning, as there are no bomb shelters capable of protecting against direct hits, and existing public hiding places provide only minimal protection against flying objects. At the same time, the population’s awareness and preparedness for crisis situations is extremely low, with costs passed on to end users, making housing unaffordable for many, emphasising the need for a stronger national contribution to civil defence.

🎙️ Listen to the programme here and read the 2023 article on the Äripeäv portal.

Photo: Kirke Ert/ERR, 2023.

The session also covered what supplies every person and family should have in the home, followed by a discussion about how to add to this list and tailor it to their specific needs. It was emphasised that it is critical to stock up on items that are truly used. For example, if you don’t eat fish, it’s not worth stockpiling canned fish; instead, focus on what your family is used to eating.

You should also stock 3 litres of water per person every day. It is also worth checking the supply of medicines, first aid kits, and sanitary supplies. In addition, cash for the family’s basic requirements, and if the family owns a car, keep the tank at least half full. There should be a battery-powered radio for information and a battery bank to keep your phone charged.

The training emphasises the significance of individual readiness, as the state and public services cannot always be relied on in a crisis. This is why it is critical to be prepared beforehand, as it will tremendously benefit local authorities and civil defence specialists.

🟧  The Civil Society Foundation is supporting the Kopli 93 project on behalf of the Estonian Ministry of the Interior.

Photo: Fourth training day (Crisis Research Centre, 2024).

Kohtla-Järve is a city in Ida-Viru county, East-Estonia with a population of more than 35 000 people, the local government is making a significant contribution to crisis preparedness. We met with Mayor Henri Kaselo, Senior Communications Specialist Kristina Piirimaa and the newly appointed crisis specialist from the city government to discuss the needs of the region’s civil defence.

“The meeting with the Kohtla-Järve municipality was important for us to understand the needs and expectations of the city’s civil defence. Kohtla-Järve has already taken important steps to increase the civil defence capacity in the region and we are grateful that we can cooperate in this area,” said Hannes Nagel, CEO of the NGO Crisis Research Centre.

From April 2024, the Crisis Research Centre is preparing a capacity building project for community based, bottom-up civil defence in Kohtla-Järve, which will also focus on empowering members of housing associations through various types of training. A similar project is currently underway in Tallinn, based at Kopli 93 community centre – read more about it here.

🧡 We are grateful to the Kohtla-Järve City Government for finding the time to meet.

Photo: May 2 meeting (Crisis Research Centre, 2024).

As of April, the Haaberstis district had almost 51 000 residents, which would make it the fourth largest city in Estonia on its own. Haabersti represents 11% of the capital’s population. The area lacks internal security institutions, such as police and rescue services, despite the fact that the Ministry of the Interior stated last year that “…according to the earlier plans of the Rescue Board, the need for a new rescue service is in the Haabersti district, where the number of inhabitants and the need has increased significantly over the years.“

Unfortunately, these plans have not materialised in the Haabersti region, and there is also a shortage of fundamental civil defence infrastructure, such as the absence of resilience centres, also known as points of invincibilities in Ukraine. Furthermore, there is just one public hiding place in the district as of this year.

Last year, the Crisis Research Centre launched a pilot project on community-based civil defence at Kopli 93 in Northern Tallinn, with the goal of training more than 20 active community members on how to deal with various types of crisis situations. It will also provide one community centre in Northern Tallinn with standardised basic equipment for crisis circumstances, allowing the municipality to establish points of invincibility.

Beginning in October 2023, the Crisis Research Centre is developing a capacity development initiative for community based civil defence in Haabersti, with a particular emphasis on empowering members of housing associations in large panel system buildings. “There is a similar demand in Haabersti, which contrasts from the northern part of the city with its massive large panel system buildings built during the Soviet occupation of Estonia. The Väike-Õismäe settlement, home to almost 27 000 people, is particularly vulnerable,” stated Anne-May Nagel, co-founder of the Crisis Research Centre.

🧡 We are grateful to the Haabersti District Administration and the Haabersti Activity Centre for finding the time to meet.

The reality of civil defence at the local level reflects what is happening in the nation.

In the programme, we reiterated that the Estonian state’s defence consists of two components: civil defence and military defence. The first part has received almost no attention, which is why there is no system and no possibility of creating one due to a lack of long-term funding.

At the same time, there is still no political consensus in the country that the protection of Estonian citizens, or the reservoir from which the Estonian Defence Force draws reserves and resources to defend the republic, is a priority. Ukraine’s experience in the defence war against Russia demonstrates the critical importance of protecting the rear.

To make things clearer, we used simple examples, such as how a bomb shelter and a public hiding place are not the same thing, and why reaching an agreement on permanent financing is critical:

• public hiding places are areas in public spaces where people can seek temporary shelter;
• Bomb shelters are underground structures with unique engineering requirements, making them unsuitable for extended stays; 
• without permanent funding, it is impossible to establish a real and functional civil defence system in Estonia.

We reiterate our call to Estonian political parties: there is an urgent need to agree on the development of civil defence and its permanent funding. You can watch the news episode (interview starts at 00:09:08 and ends 00:14:14) here!