Evidence for policy and policy for evidence: European Union initiatives for national and European civil protection development
Jaakko Schroderus, Fire Chief at Kainuu Rescue Department
Filip Sever, Project manager at Kajaani University of Applied Sciences
The public sector is increasingly adopting practices to utilize existing information in order to make decisions for the future. The practice is more commonly known as evidence-based policymaking: using data, facts, or signs to make informed decisions. However, the process can be complex, and performance may vary between different implementations. The evidence-based policy process therefore necessitates the inclusion of trialing to evaluate the measures and ongoing observations on the implementations (Hokkanen & Seppänen, 2017).
In civil protection, evidence-based policymaking is used to evaluate risks and incident statistics and to guide prevention and preparedness work towards risk reduction and mitigation of future incidents.
In the context of rescue department work, daily operations are concerned with the collection of important data for analysis and the implementation of policies based on data. The evidence-based policy process is iterative and continuously seeks to improve safety and resilience. As part of broader national governance, resources and certain expertise are provided centrally, while regional knowledge and rescue work expertise are local.
Beyond the work of regional rescue departments, the policy ecosystem includes a wide range of experts at both the regional and national levels who contribute to both the evidence used in analysis as well as implementation of policies addressing the identified challenges. These stakeholders can include the policy makers, the scientific community, societal stakeholders, special interest and pressure groups and the media (Van Woensel, 2021).
Within the TEMA project's context, regional authorities can contribute to the broader European discourse on big data analytics and technology research and development for civil protection. Such EU funded initiatives are considered important both within Finland and other member states as they provide additional ways to engage with both civil protection and technology experts in trialing solutions for improving the rescue department work and increasing cooperation (European Commission, 2024). This also impacts evidence-based policy making. The regional authorities involved disseminate and exploit the project learning and outcomes to inform national stakeholders, which can result in further support in improving aspects of work: better work processes, additional resource for training, adoption of technology, further exploration of solutions through projects. To that end, TEMA will allow the participating end users to test and trial several technologies that address distinct aspects of civil protection work. One of the usual challenges is always the gap between technology developers and civil protection expertise. Both parties require time and space to familiarize themselves with the work of the other, so that the technology application can be framed within the disaster response and provide added value to the end users. The process is crucial in ensuring that both parties develop their knowledge and co-create solutions beneficial to the work of civil protection.
Spring and summer of 2025 will see the TEMA project carry out the first round of pilot trials where the technologies will be tested. The purpose of the trial is to test the first version of the different tools and continue iterating towards the final product. For end users, the process simultaneously allows for the internal evaluation of expertise and needs to adopt the technologies and provides an opportunity for regional and national discourse on the potential impact on civil protection work.
References
European Commission. (2024). On options for enhancing support for research and development involving technologies with dual-use potential (COM (2024) 27 final). https://research-and-innovation.ec.europa.eu/system/files/2024-01/ec_rtd_white-paper-dual-use-potential.pdf
Hokkanen, L., & Seppänen, J. (2017, June 8). Evidence-based approaches and experiments – Towards progressive policymaking? SITRA. https://www.sitra.fi/en/articles/evidence-based-approaches-experiments-towards-progressive-policymaking/
Van Woensel, L. (2021). Evidence for policy-making: Foresight-based scientific advice. In European Union (PE 690.529). EPRS | European Parliamentary Research Service. https://www.europarl.europa.eu/RegData/etudes/BRIE/2021/690529/EPRS_BRI(2021)690529_EN.pdf