Workshop: Total preparedness and systems thinking
On 14th August, the Pandemic Centre arranged an open seminar about total preparedness for future crises. Based on the need to work interdisciplinary, the seminar gathered stakeholders from different European research institutions, Bergen municipality, County Governor of Vestland, and humanitarian organizations, that participated both in-person and online.
By: Carla I Sole, Intern at the Pandemic Centre
Published:
How can we use health as a lens to have a look at total preparedness?
Esperanza Díaz, Directorof the Pandemic Centre, opened the seminar with a presentation on the concept of preparedness, which she described as society’s capacity to maintain essential functions and respond to crises under stress.
While focusing on Norway’s preparedness, Díaz underlined the difficulty to prepare one country at a time, arguing that total preparedness requires coordination across nations and across society sectors, including the military, health, civil, public and private sectors. Health is particularly important in this context, as it can serve as a test of how prepared the broader system is by revealing whether societal areas are able to respond collectively and effectively.
Is one actor responsible for the crises preparedness?
Professor in system dynamics, Birgit Kopainsky from UiB, talked about systems thinking as an analytical tool for problem-solving that emphasizes the interdependence of the various components within a given issue. Rather than examining individual elements in isolation, this approach considers how they interact with and influence one another. While Kopainsky’s research is primarily focused on social-ecological systems, the discussion also addressed how systems thinking may serve as a common framework for decision-making in the context of total preparedness.
The seminar carried on with collaboration work and scenario-based exercises that helped to reflect on how we can address research gaps in preparedness in an inter and trans-disciplinary way.