ERRIN’s first online skills session puts Skills for Resilience at the heart of Europe’s regions

ERRIN’s first online skills session puts Skills for Resilience at the heart of Europe’s regions

Increasing Europe’s resilience in the face of climate change risks has been very high on the EU agenda for the past few years, and it is also very high on the European agenda, alongside other societal challenges such as geopolitical and societal threats. Many European support initiatives already exist, such as the European Defence Fund, the European Defence Industry Programme, and the EU Mission Adaptation to Climate Change. But the question of how to increase capacity and upskill and reskill Europe’s human capital and workforce to get the job done is still very often overlooked.  Yet, addressing these challenges at the local level remains extremely difficult without dedicated capacity-building activities.  

Therefore, ERRIN’s Science and Education for Society (SEFS) Working Group organised on 13 May a first online member exchange dedicated to Skills for Resilience. The meeting brought together over 60 regional higher-education representatives, vocational education and training (VET) providers, regional policymakers and the Joint Research Centre of the European Commission. Aiming to deepen understanding of the emerging capacity-building activities across Europe’s regions to increase territorial resilience, several regional stakeholders presented regional initiatives to align education, research, industry and public actors around resilience skills.

  • Security and Safety Campus, a partnership-driven initiative presented by Ingeborg Bennink, EU Advisor, Cities Northern Netherlands -City of Assen and Dominika Cloo Barillova, Public Affairs Coordinator, Province of Drenthe. The Campus is much more than merely a training campus infrastructure; it is a regional ecosystem built on the city of Assen's military presence. The Campus entails three pillars: lifelong learning pathways across VET-to-university levels, an applied-to-scientific research centre, and a resilience centre offering simulation training for professionals and civil society. The campus offers practical cross-level training (including a military minor) and is initially funded by municipal and provincial sources. Brussels outreach to Commission and Parliament contacts has started to explore further collaboration with other regions setting up similar training initiatives in Europe. 
  • Valdete Hashani, Senior Collaborator Advisor at Linnaeus University introduced their recently signed Linnaeus Region’s Regional resilience Partnership, a research-led initiative involving private actors in Kalmar and Växjö, prioritising research on democratic threats, ageing-welfare, youth crime, and later-stage climate threats. The partnership emphasises cross-faculty applied research, upskilling existing workers, municipal and industry partnerships (including the Ingvar Kamprad Foundation and IKEA), and regional innovation to attract students and researchers to a sparsely populated area.
  • Zoe Buyle-Bodin , representative of the Normandy Region Brussels office, focused on the territorial dimension of facing risks of climate change in Normandy. She presented their work in the RESIST, introduced their recently signed Linnaeus Region’s Regional Resilience Horizon Europe mission project for nature-based flood and stormwater adaptation, transferring three tools (blue-green factor, cost–benefit analysis for NBS, rain garden guide) into five pilot sites (rural, urban, business park). Normandy has built a geographic digital twin and hydraulic models, held multi-site workshops and practitioner training, surveyed local capacity gaps, and plans public/scientific dissemination events. These innovative tools have very much helped local decision-makers to shift toward targeted actions and engage local stakeholders in their efforts. 
  • Eindhoven University of Technology shed light on how they have established a year-long inventory aligning research and education with national defence and resilience priorities (AI, sensors, materials, quantum) and resilience themes (autonomous energy hubs, logistics, medical tech) within the university. This has led to developing a Resilience and Security Programme of Eindhoven University of Technology, including university-scoped research, industry and Ministry of Defence contacts. It has also increased faculty interest post-geopolitical events and will be developing curricular links, multidisciplinary student teams, and a possible minor combining theory with a 10-week physical/personal development component.

During the Q&A session, several members expressed interest in further exploring collaboration among ERRIN members. As such, the University of the Balearic Islands shared their work on their regional risk observatory, providing integrated monitoring (hydrometric/meteorological stations, remote sensing), real-time simulations for 20 basins every ten minutes, mobile alerts, and cited economic returns on resilience investments. Director Professor Joan Estrany, leading this work, reported  €5–10 per €1 invested and direct savings up to €50 million from recent projects. Additionally, Ville-Pekka Niskanen, a postdoctoral Researcher at the University of Vaasa, is planning a Master’s in Preparedness and Resilience starting in autumn 2026 to leverage regional strengths in business and energy technology for whole-of-society preparedness professionals.

Participants express interest in exploring further how to scale these efforts through European University networks (such as the UNIWELL University Alliance), engagement with EU initiatives (such as the Industrial Alliance and the Defence Skills Academy), and regional participation in forthcoming EU programmes. Recurring constraints across projects included funding limitations, scaling challenges, legal/practical barriers to cross-border trainee participation, and the need for clearer European funding pathways and networks. 

The SEFS Working Group will continue the conversation on 25 June 2026 to further facilitate collaborative learning, as well as how ERRIN can position the regional dimension of skills development in the work of the High Level Board of the Union of Skills. In the second half of 2026, the Working Group aims to organise a meeting with the cabinet of Executive Vice-President Mînzatu of the European Commission. 

Members who are interested in contribute to the next ERRIN Skills Talks, can reach out to astrid.hannes@errin.eu.