The panel will explore the expectations that different actors – the state, local authorities and citizens – have when it comes to civil protection. Can people manage on their own during a crisis until help arrives? How much can families and neighbours rely on one another? And are households actually prepared with enough emergency supplies to last for at least seven days?

At the Opinion Festival, we will discuss where responsibility for crisis preparedness lies – with the state, local government, apartment associations or individuals themselves – and, more importantly, how to turn expectations and good intentions into practical action.

“Crisis preparedness should not be a privilege available only to those who have more money, space, time and knowledge. Individuals are an important part of preparedness, but they are not the whole system. Preparedness is also about much more than what people buy and store at home. It is reflected in the kind of cities, communities and living environments we create,” said Hannes Nagel, Head of the Crisis Research Centre.

We highlighted on ERR that the situation has improved following the adoption of legislation setting requirements for shelters and public sheltering spaces in new buildings. At the same time, Estonia’s existing sheltering infrastructure remains insufficient. The issue concerns not only Tallinn, but also other Estonian cities and regions, where people’s actual access to shelter may depend heavily on the type of building, the period in which it was built, and the local spatial context.

For example, there are areas in Tallinn where the standard designs of high-rise buildings do not include basement floors. In such buildings, it is not possible to create shelters in the usual way or to adapt existing basement spaces for this purpose. This means that, due to the building type alone, part of the population may be left without a realistic nearby sheltering option in a crisis situation.

Tallinn’s initiative to establish modular shelters is an important and necessary step. However, individual pilot solutions cannot replace the systematic and broader development of sheltering infrastructure. More public sheltering spaces are needed, and their development should not remain only a question for the capital. Similar solutions are also needed in other Estonian cities and densely populated areas.

The Crisis Research Centre is launching the KRAKO project (Knowledge and Resilience Alliance of Key Organisers) in Tallinn to support people’s ability to cope better in emergencies and crises, and to help carry crisis preparedness knowledge forward at the local level. The project is part of the Crisis Research Centre’s wider 2026 programme, which focuses on empowering community crisis preparedness through practical discussions, learning activities and local-level cooperation.

KRAKO does not approach crisis preparedness only as a matter of supplies, guidelines or institutional responsibility. Instead, it treats preparedness as part of a broader question: how communities can better understand their strengths, vulnerabilities and opportunities for cooperation. The project’s central starting point is that official plans alone are not enough in crises — people also need knowledge, skills, contacts and trust to rely on in difficult situations.

“Crisis preparedness often starts with very simple things: whether people know what to do in the first hours, whether they know other active people in their community, and whether they are able to communicate information calmly. KRAKO helps strengthen exactly this local level, where official preparedness and people’s everyday capacity to act come together,” said Hannes Nagel, Head of the Crisis Research Centre.

The Crisis Research Centre has launched the EDENTallinn (Educational and community gardens for Disaster preparedness, Empowerment and Neighbourhood resilience) project in Tallinn, aiming to bring community and educational garden leaders, urban gardening practitioners, experts and city-level stakeholders into a shared discussion space. The project focuses on the realistic role that community and educational gardens can play in supporting food security, community cooperation and crisis preparedness in urban environments.

The project does not approach urban gardening narrowly as a hobby or environmental activity, but as part of a broader discussion on how urban communities can better understand their dependencies, strengthen cooperation and reflect on the role of everyday environments in crisis situations. “Community gardens cannot replace food supply chains or solve the question of urban food security on their own. However, they can help increase residents’ awareness, practical skills, neighbourhood ties and understanding of where food comes from, as well as what limitations may emerge in a crisis,” said Anne-May Nagel, co-founder of the Crisis Research Centre.

As part of the project, an expert seminar will be held in Tallinn in autumn to discuss the potential role of community and educational gardens in supporting food security and crisis preparedness. The project will also produce a publication that communities and partners can use to introduce the topic further and identify opportunities for cooperation. 

The PIMA project brought together local government representatives from Estonia, Sweden and Ukraine to explore how community-based crisis centres providing essential services — such as water, food, heating, electricity, internet access and reliable information — can strengthen local resilience. The project was not simply about transferring Ukraine’s experience, but about understanding how elements of Ukraine’s Points of Invincibility model could be adapted to different socio-cultural contexts in order to build comparable capacity in the Baltic Sea Region. Particular attention was given to inclusiveness, accessibility and the effective use of existing local needs and resources.

We have previously pointed out that the Estonian Stockpiling Agency does not fulfill the task given by the government: a nationwide 14-day state food reserve covering the entire population has not been established, and in reality the existing reserves amount to only approximately three days. We emphasise that although the state has begun supplying shops and fuel stations with generators and working to improve the resilience of food producers, an audit by the National Audit Office has revealed serious shortcomings and inexplicable ad-hoc practices in the activities of the Stockpiling Centre.

We stress that it is important for every person, according to their means, to have at home at least a one-week supply of food, and preferably a two-week supply. At the same time, it is unthinkable that the responsibility for building crisis reserves should rest solely on ordinary citizens. If we look at the average Estonian, they live in an apartment where space is inevitably limited. This places clear constraints on how much and what type of emergency supplies can realistically be stored at home. Therefore, it is not realistic to expect the average Estonian resident—especially in the context of rising living costs—to begin stockpiling months’ worth of food and drinking water in their apartment.

Unfortunately, the highly paid managers there have overlooked the client’s expectation—and, more broadly, society’s as well: not to starve to death in the event of a crisis.

Libraries do not require tickets, do not impose class boundaries, and are open to anyone who wants to learn, socialize, or simply be in a safe shared space. Where the compulsion to consume disappears, space for thinking and noticing emerges. This is the essence of democracy: access to information and a sense of community that comes from being together and realizing that other people are actually quite normal. In contrast to the algorithmic echo chambers of social media, libraries can break down silos and bring together people with different views and experiences who share the same physical space and forum for discussion.

Libraries are institutions of freedom—they protect freedom of thought, ensure equal access to information, and teach critical skills, including how to find reliable information. These are tools of democracy, the absence of which opens the door to manipulation and disinformation. Free nationwide access is not just a convenience, but a strategic resource. Even in times of crisis – as we saw in Estonia when Ukrainian war refugees used libraries to learn the language, familiarize themselves with the culture, and acquire new job skills – all in order to integrate into society and find their place in our economy and communities.

However, libraries only survive thanks to library staff. Recently, I have noticed an increasing use of self-service technology in libraries – at least in some libraries, items can be conveniently borrowed and returned using a machine. On the one hand, this is a great opportunity for libraries – it frees up the time of library professionals for advising people or community work, but at the same time, we must be vigilant.

The introduction of machines may discourage human contact in libraries, and the introduction of machines must not be used as an argument for laying off competent employees in order to save costs. A machine may be convenient for borrowing and returning items, but it does not notice people in need, nor does it recommend reading material that would broaden your worldview or help you understand a complex topic. If machines become an excuse to cut librarian jobs, we will lose something irreplaceable – the knowledge that someone is really listening and can guide you, as well as people who can help you in times of crisis.

Photo: recording the episode at the National Library (Kriisiuuringute Keskus, 2025).

Published in May, the textbook covers three core pillars of crisis preparedness in apartment buildings: relationships, supplies, and skills. It is based on the premise that achieving crisis preparedness in an apartment building is most effective at the community level — primarily within the housing cooperative. Until now, the state has focused on individuals’ personal supplies and skills, where major gaps still remain, but the community dimension of crisis preparedness has been largely overlooked.

The textbook is intended for people who want to begin developing crisis preparedness in their apartment building. It addresses both strengthening individual preparedness and initiating community-level preparedness within the cooperative. The emphasis is on communication, creating a shared crisis plan, and mobilising human resources — large buildings house many people who, with thoughtful organisation, could support one another.

The textbook also discusses personal crisis preparedness as a prerequisite for helping others. Chapter by chapter, it explains the importance of preparing for crises in an urban environment, the role of the community in a city setting, and how to begin building community-level preparedness. It also covers what to do if living in the city becomes impossible due to a crisis and evacuation becomes necessary.

The textbook can be ordered in print HERE for the cost of postage. Its development and printing were supported through the Väike-Õismäe community civil protection project by the National Foundation of Civil Society and the Estonian Ministry of the Interior, and the content has been reviewed and approved by the Estonian Rescue Board.

Photo: Estonia’s first apartment building community crisis preparedness textbook (Kriisiuuringute Keskus, 2025).