In the programme, we pointed out that the Estonian Stockpiling Agency has essentially disregarded the task set by the Government of the Republic. Instead, a practice has emerged in which tasks are ignored, responsibility becomes blurred, and the result is a solution that provides reserves for 10% of the population for 30 days. According to the recent National Audit Office audit, this cannot be considered a substantively sufficient solution.

What is especially problematic is that the justification for this self-initiated choice has not been convincing. As has also been noted in public debate and in reference to the National Audit Office audit, there is no clear explanation as to why the objective of covering the entire population for 14 days was replaced with a solution that amounts to food reserves for the whole population for only three days. This raises a fundamental question: whose needs were taken as the starting point, and on what basis was it decided that precisely this volume would be sufficient?

We also emphasised that crisis preparedness cannot rest on the silent assumption that people will solve the shortfalls themselves. The average person in Estonia often lives in an apartment where storing extensive food reserves is neither practical nor possible. The main burden therefore cannot be shifted onto individuals in a situation where the state’s own task has remained unfulfilled.

We invite everyone to watch the programme, as the real gravity of the issue becomes clear in the longer discussion. This is not only a question of reserves, but of the state’s ability to meet the objectives it has set for itself when the situation becomes truly serious.

The conference concluded ten months of dedicated project activities, led by Malmö University (Sweden) in partnership with NGO Poruch (Ukraine) and the NGO Crisis Research Centre (Estonia). The goal of the project was to establish a network of local-level crisis managers across the three countries, focusing initially on the Points of Invincibility, a resilience hubs initiative launched in Ukraine in 2022 in response to Russia’s large-scale attacks on critical infrastructure.

“Points of Invincibility is a Ukrainian initiative aimed at helping local communities — both in urban and rural areas to continue daily life and work as normally as possible. As Sweden and Estonia also seek tangible tools to support local communities in the face of various crises, bringing together best practices and lessons learned is essential,” said Dr. Tom Nilsson, project coordinator from Malmö University.

The project focused on sharing experiences and mapping both success stories and the challenges municipalities have faced. “An important part of this project was the research conducted to understand how Points of Invincibility, as resilience hubs, function as tools in building resilience,” noted Anne-May Nagel, researcher and co-founder of the NGO Crisis Research Centre. “At the conference, preliminary research results were presented, and further feedback was gathered from participants,” she added.

Anne-May Nagel, from the Crisis Research Centre, participated in the panel as one of TalTech’s representatives. The discussion focused on students’ questions concerning the nature and practical challenges of crisis management and resilience. The panel marked the launch of a course in which TalTech, together with colleagues from Tampere University and the University of Agder, is testing a new learning materials bank developed for a microcredential in crisis management and resilience.

The discussion was primarily based on questions submitted by students before and during the session. Prior to the panel, students also took part in a short survey on crises, the results of which showed strong interest in various types of crises – most often political, economic, health-related, and operational. As key solutions, students emphasized clear communication, flexible pre-agreed action plans, network cooperation, and learning from mistakes.

Throughout the discussion, the panelists underlined that crisis management is not only about reacting, but also about learning, adapting, and recovering. As was noted during the discussion, a crisis is not merely a breaking point, but also an opportunity to find a new balance and strengthen resilience – at the individual, organizational, and societal levels alike.

The Crisis Research Centre thanks the OVERCOME project partners for a meaningful discussion and looks forward to receiving feedback from students who will engage with the microcredential materials during the course.

Photo: discussion at Tampere University (Taltech, 2025).

The life of a doctoral student is not an easy one – it often involves doubt, setbacks, and a persistent sense of uncertainty that comes with doing research. In many ways, the PhD journey itself can be seen as a kind of crisis – a period that requires learning how to cope with external demands, article rejections, and one’s own expectations and self-criticism.

“In academia, rejections are part of the process. What matters is the ability to recover, move forward, and believe that the work will eventually pay off. For that, we need both work and hope – and rest,” said Nagel. Such an experience connects doctoral studies more broadly to the perspective of crisis research: a crisis is not merely a breaking point, but also an opportunity for finding new balance, adaptation, and growth.

Nagel also emphasized the importance of support networks – supervisors, colleagues, and the various support services provided by the university. Doctoral students were encouraged to reach out to their doctoral associations – at TalTech, for instance, DoKo – which help foster a sense of community and mutual support. TalTech also offers professional support in the form of study and career counselling, as well as mental health services. These systems help young researchers not only to cope, but also to grow.

The Crisis Research Centre supports its researchers and doctoral students throughout their academic journey – whether that involves researching crises, pursuing scientific self-development, or simply navigating the human challenge of persistence. After all, the path of research is itself a kind of crisis – and a story of recovery.

Photo: annual PhD reception at Taltech (Taltech, 2025).

Dr Mariia Tyschenko (Ukraine), head of Poruch, one of Ukraine’s largest NGOs, gave a presentation on cooperation between the third sector and local government in Ukraine at the final seminar of the Crisis Research Centre’s K-24 project “Crisis Preparedness of Communities – Where do we stand?” on May 28.

Anne-May Nagel, co-founder of the Crisis Research Centre, will introduce the presentation with an overview of the organization’s 2024 Tallinn and Kohtla-Järve community-based population protection projects. The video is in English.

🟧🟦 The panel discussion and its recording were supported by the Estonian Ministry of the Interior through the National Foundation for Civil Society.

Photo and video: the panel discussion on May 28 (Crisis Research Centre, 2025).

The protection of critical infrastructure is one of the most important needs for modern society’s security, and Ukraine serves as a model for the rest of Europe. Modern critical infrastructure is inextricably linked to electricity and software, both of which are important targets for an aggressor state that employs a wide range of tactics.

“Instead of focussing solely on directly critical infrastructure last year, attackers increasingly targeted supply chains, compromising specialised software suppliers and developers. This approach enables the enemy to remain undetected and gain access to critical systems via less secure supply chains,” explained Brigadier General Oleksandr Potii, Head of Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection (SSSCIP), who also presented the Crisis Research Centre with a newly published analytical report summarising Ukraine’s defensive cyber activities.

“After more than a decade of war, we’ve seen how important it is to protect critical infrastructure, whether it’s transport hubs or power plants. This is significant because modern societies are extremely vulnerable to power outages and other essential services,” said Hannes Nagel, head of the Crisis Research Centre. Mr Nagel accepted a commemorative coin from Oleksandr Potii, Head of Ukraine’s State Service of Special Communications and Information Protection, on behalf of the Crisis Research Centre, symbolising the start of cooperation between the organisations.

The seminar featured presentations by local officials from various regions of Ukraine. “It is critical to have representation from various regions because Ukraine is a large country and local authorities’ experience varies slightly depending on their location. The war has affected all regions of Ukraine, but people near the frontline or in Western Ukraine have different needs in certain areas,” said Dr. Mariia Tyschenko, head of NGO Poruch (Ukraine), a PIMA project partner, at the seminar. However, crisis centres, or Point of Invincibility as they are known in Ukraine, are spread across the country and provide critical support to the population during the war.

“Estonia and Sweden are both actively developing civil protection, including crisis centres. However, in order to achieve the best possible outcome, we must learn from the Ukrainian experience. This is what the PIMA project is all about,” said Anne-May Nagel, co-founder of the Crisis Research Centre. ‘The need for cooperation was also important – in Ukraine, companies, local governments, the Ukrainian Rescue Service, NGOs, and the community itself all contribute to setting up, opening, and maintaining the centres – and we need similar solutions in Estonia and Sweden to make the centres work in practice,’ she added.

Part of the last event of the Crisis Research Centre’s Spring 2025 Community Based Civil Protection initiatives was the panel discussion With Maria Derlõs (City of Tallinn), Dr. Mariia Tyschenko (NGO Poruch, Ukraine), Hannes Nagel (Crisis Research Centre), and Dr. Kadi Luht-Kallas (Estonian Ministry of Interior) joining the conversation, the goal was to compile experts with various points of view on communities and crisis readiness.

The panellists considered at the start of the conversation what we might define as community in Estonia nowadays. The main description given was people working together in the same area, for the same goal; but, communities based on interests were also emphasised: for instance, people engaged in a particular hobby in the same area can also establish a community. Dr. Luht-Kallas underlined that in times of crisis, the community close by is quite crucial since it can be challenging to get persons living far away.

“People living in large apartment blocks and prefabricated housing are particularly vulnerable in an urban environment because of their reliance on basic services such electricity, water and heating,” said head of the Crisis Research Centre Hannes Nagel. Given many people live together, both individual initiative and the management of the housing association’s crisis readiness are equally crucial. Maria Derlõs emphasised her own experience serving on a board of a housing association and noted that, in order to effectively involve residents—including on crisis readiness—the boards of housing associations require particular support and training. Participants observed that, in terms of crisis preparedness and crisis management, the communication among residents—whether or not it occurs in housing associations—is rather crucial.

Dr Tyschenko, who shared her experience of more than ten years of war in Ukraine, echoed this point underlining the need of housing associations having a messaging app allowing for quick messaging—be it Facebook Messenger, Signal, or another group chat system. Furthermore mentioned by Dr Tyschenko was the so-called “social networking” should guide those in the building who cannot or do not know how to use such applications for whatever reason”. Should some members of the house find themselves unable to use these applications for some reason, it is advised that they use the traditional approaches of either knocking on the door or, for messages less time-sensitive, writing them on the stairwell notice board. Therefore, it is crucial that the residents’ or the management of the housing association have a general awareness of the neighbours who might require this type of information-sharing help.