The military profession: Civil-military actor collaborations at the regional level

The research project studies how different collaborative activities at the regional level seek to build both crisis management capacity and trust within the regional crisis management system in terms of collaboration, coordination and leadership direction.

The ability to promote strong cooperation and trust between cooperating actors at the regional level is of crucial importance for the development of the overall defence system, as significant civil-military interactions take place at the regional level.

The study focuses on two thematic topics and a number of related research questions:

Collaboration

1. What activities are organised in order to increase collaboration in a crisis?
2. How are the objectives of these activities formulated, i.e. what is to be achieved?
3. How are these objectives evaluated?
4. How does the evaluation influence future activities?

Trust

1. How is trust between collaborating actors and organisations described?
2. What factors are described as important for trust?
3. What factors are described as important for the absence of trust?
4. How can trust be built?
5. How can trust be broken down?
6. What are the effects of trust on collaborative activities?
7. What are the effects of lack of trust on collaborative activities?
8. What is the link between trust, roles, responsibilities, mandates, and competences?

Activities 2022

In 2022, an ethical review will be submitted to ensure that projects can be carried out in accordance with good research ethics, something that is required for data collection to begin. A research review will be conducted and a network of contacts with relevant collaborators within each military region will be built.

In 2023, data collection and analysis will be carried out and research reports will potentially be initiated. In 2024, the focus will be on writing scientific articles.

Cooperation and collaboration

Collaboration will take place with the four military regions of the Swedish Armed Forces and civilian actors involved in crisis management within each military region, such as county administrative boards, police regions, regional councils and other relevant actors. Dialogue will take place with the Swedish Armed Forces’ Total Defence Department to ensure the project's focus and relevance to the development of total defence.

The research is carried out within the framework of the Armed Forces Research and Technology Development programme.