“Resilient Urban Flows Workshop” hosted by Training Regions gathered members and other stakeholders in the Öresund region.
The aim of the workshop in Malmö September 6 was to pinpoint joint problems in securing flows and to focus on how to enhance cooperation between the various different actors in academia, local government, and the commercial and industrial participants in the business community.
As was mentioned during the workshop – Training Regions serves as a neutral platform on which such problems could be discussed.
– One should think more horizontally and not just vertically within their own business in order to get the systems to connect, commented Ulf Peterson, Chief Analyst, Corporate Strategy at SAAB. When cities are planned, it is also important not to forget the flows. The systems must have surveillance and governance 24 hours a day, 7 days a week without any interruption.
Joint efforts are needed, as well as effective and robust hubs in the flows, to obtain security.
– There is also a need for cooperation and training not only within cities, but also in-between cities, said Henrik Tehler, who is associate professor at the Department of Fire Safety Engineering and Systems Safety, Lund University and also works for Training Regions Research Center. The society is becoming more and more complex, and the dependence on different systems and flows is increasing.
– It is hard to apply traditional risk management to these complex systems. One example is the Swedish rail transport of today where various different entities have their own individual responsibilities and handle different segments of the system and therefore it is hard to obtain an overview over the entire system.
– With robust cities and regions it is easier for the society to resist disruptions and to recover from them.
An example is EON which has has participated in identified a system (STYREL) on how to establish priorities when there is disruption in the provision of electric power.
During a round table session at the workshop, various different topics were discussed and identified. A representative from an insurance company underlined the importance for their customers to identify the flows which could have an impact on their business activities and their presence in the marketplace. The earthquake in Chile last year almost caused a complete suspension of production for one of their customers. Another example is when a plant in Asia was destroyed by fire and therefore the distribution of parts to a telecom company was disrupted. At the same time their competitors were prepared and had the possibility to continue their operations and business activities, and thus obtained a greater share of the market. There is a big impact on name brands when such events occur.
There is also a need for more knowledge about the consequences for various different operations when there are interruptions in critical flows. One way to obtain a greater understanding for the importance of securing flows, is to measure the costs generated by interruptions in or disturbances to the flow. When there is a heavy traffic jam – how does that affect the carbon dioxide emissions? What are the costs to society if the traffic flow fails to function well or is disrupted?
It is also important to indentify the dependence on resilient flows, something which is unknown. Some interconnections are obvious, such as the dependence upon electric power. One example of dependence is the experience at a hospital in connection with the Tsunami catastrophe where doctors could not come to work on a Sunday because of lack of a daycare center for their children.
Malmö has analyzed the interdependence between different actors in the city and has formed a forum for cooperation between 40 of the most important actors. One problem is to find a forum for decisions regarding important coordinating measures. There is also a need to analyze who the owners of the systems are and who has the authority and responsibility for the operation of the systems. There are so many actors to identify. And there is a need for a specific meeting venue where these questions could be discussed and dealt with. Training Regions is in a position to offer that arena.
