Secure Kvarken

Secure Kvarken strengthens preparedness through cross-border collaboration

How can municipalities strengthen their preparedness by learning from one another, both within and across Sweden and Finland? This is a key question in Secure Kvarken, a cross-border project that aims to promote collaboration, knowledge exchange and long-term preparedness in the Kvarken region.

Municipalities today face an increasingly complex risk landscape. Geopolitical tensions, climate-related events, disruptions to energy and communication systems, and cyber threats place growing demands on their capacity to prevent, manage and recover from societal disruptions. At the same time, valuable experience and practices exist on both sides of the Kvarken that can be shared and developed through closer collaboration.

Knowledge exchange between Sweden and Finland

An important part of Secure Kvarken is to develop a better understanding of how preparedness is organised and carried out in Sweden and Finland. The project therefore begins by mapping and analysing existing structures, practices and conditions for municipal preparedness and security.

The results will provide a basis for the continued exchange of experiences and mutual learning between municipalities and other actors in the Kvarken region. By comparing experiences, identifying shared challenges and highlighting good practices, the project creates opportunities to strengthen both local preparedness and cross-border collaboration.

The project will also address issues related to cross-border communication and include simulations focusing on collaboration across the Swedish-Finnish border.

Building collaboration that lasts

The ambition of Secure Kvarken extends beyond the activities carried out during the project period. The project also aims to build relationships, forms of knowledge exchange and structures for collaboration that can continue after the project has ended.

Through more sustained collaboration between municipalities and regions on both sides of the Kvarken, experience and knowledge can be shared and used more effectively. In this way, Secure Kvarken contributes to strengthening both municipal preparedness and the Kvarken region’s collective capacity to respond to future societal disruptions.