D55 Iceland Civil Defense End User Implementation Report – NCIP-CPS

Throughout the RETINA project there has been an ongoing dialogue with the Scientific community concerning the incorporation of new scientific knowledge.

Civil protection in Iceland has an ongoing dialogue with the scientific community on changes in the probability of earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. This dialogue is on two levels.

The first level concerns the dissemination of information from the scientific community to the civil protection community. It concerns the questions of 1) what information is conveyed, 2) how the information is conveyed and 3) when the information is conveyed. Attempts are being made to establish benchmark values for hazards in various areas to determine when there is a need for the scientific community to alert civil protection of ongoing developments.

The second level of the dialogue between scientists and civil protection concerns long term developments in natural hazards. Civil protection calls upon its board of scientific advisors on a fairly regular basis to assess regional developments of natural hazards such as earthquakes and volcanic eruptions. The group of scientists who are called upon varies from one geographical region to another and is also dependent on the hazard under discussion.

The understanding of the coupling of geohazards, i.e. earthquakes and volcanic eruptions, is of the utmost importance to society. An increase in this understanding allows for more accurate prediction of events or chains of events. More accurate prediction of events means that there will be a lesser chance that warnings will be issued without cause and that evacuations will take place without cause. This will serve to lessen the economic and social impact of natural hazards on the community.

Timely warnings of natural hazards are paramount to saving lives. They allow Civil Protection to evacuate affected areas in a timely manner and thus lessen the risk of loss of life during natural hazards, i.e. volcanic eruptions.

Civil protection in Iceland has had close ties to the scientific community for a considerable length of time. The Civil Protections board of scientific advisors dates back to the era of the Heimaey eruption in 1973. Since that time Civil Protection in Iceland has maintained this link and built on the strong ties that were formed with the scientific community to maintain and develop Civil Protections understanding of natural hazards. Regular meetings with the scientific community ensure that changes in personnel at the scientific institutes do not cause a discontinuity in this connection. New scientists are brought into the group so that they may become familiar with the workings of the board of scientific advisors and the matters under discussion at any given time.

The work Civil Protection has been engaged in with the scientific community within the RETINA project has brought both parties into closer contact. The Project has enabled Civil Protection to work more closely with scientists than before. This has led to greater understanding of both parties on the others needs. Scientists have developed a keener sense for the needs of Civil Protection for information and to what uses that information is put. In the same manner Civil Protection has developed a greater understanding of the capabilities of the scientific community when it comes to monitoring and predicting hazards.

The RETINA project has also allowed Civil Protection and the scientific community to work together in a more focused manner than before. This focus has of course been provided by the objectives of the project.

Icelandic Civil Protection recommends, without hesitation, that the European Union foster the link between the scientific community and Civil Protection started or reinforced in this project. Greater understanding between the two communities and greater co-operation will benefit the general public (see. Sections 3.3, 3.4 and 3.5).

Future exploitation of experience gained from the RETINA project:

The experience gained in the RETINA project has proven that Civil Protection has much to gain from working closely with the scientific community. First of all Civil Protection in Iceland is now better informed about the coupling of natural hazards. The scientific community has seized every opportunity to educate Civil Protection. We will look to the scientific community to plan future projects which will be carried out in co-operation with the scientists. These projects will include hazards assessments as well as risk analysis and building scenarios for realistic exercises for Civil Protection personnel.