Today, 19 March, Riga will host a discussion for entrepreneurs, media representatives and industry professionals entitled “Business preparedness and action in the event of war”, organised by the Nordic resilience organisation Civilian Resilience Nordic (CIREN). The aim of the event is to strengthen companies' long-term ability to prepare systematically for crises, to train their staff, to ensure business continuity and to support the state in the event of a military threat. The discussion is being held to mark the updated edition of a handbook for businesses bearing the same name.
Although questions of business and societal resilience have been on the agenda for several years now, and there is often a belief that Latvia – its companies and its residents – is ready for crisis situations, the data suggest otherwise: actual preparedness remains insufficient. The “Norstat” analysis presented at last year's Nordic Resilience Summit shows that only 19% of Latvia's residents had taken part in civil defence or crisis management training during the previous year, while 80% had not done so at all.
“We can see that businesses want to prepare for Hour X, but they do not always fully understand how to do so in practice, which is why we launched this series of handbooks. Since the first edition last year, we have been analysing the real situation in conflicts very closely and have expanded the handbook, so the panel discussion is also very important for further improvements – it lets businesses learn both from one another and from experts, and it brings problem areas to the surface for future editions. We will only be ready for crisis situations if we work together – businesses, the public sector and wider society alike,” says Ojārs Stūre, one of the authors of the CIREN handbook.
The content of the handbook "Business preparedness and action in the event of war" (authors – Ojārs Stūre, Vitālijs Rakstiņš) also draws on Ukraine's experience of the various challenges companies face in wartime. It has been published by CIREN and is intended for business owners and managers who wish to prepare their organisations for a possible threat to the country, as well as to make their resources useful for national defence. Following the panel discussion with experts and the book's authors on 19 March at 11.00, held as part of the Baltic Security Conference, the handbook will be available to all interested parties to download free of charge on the website of the Nordic resilience organisation (CIREN): www.ciren.ngo
CIREN's aim is to improve the capabilities of Northern Europe's residents and organisations in the event of actual or potential natural disasters, terrorism, hybrid threats/grey zone activity, military action or other man-made disasters, as well as to foster greater resilience by strengthening threat reduction and preparedness measures and emergency response, and by promoting business continuity and recovery.