How does Bergen handle crises, extreme weather, and cross-sectoral collaboration? That was the question Sri Lanka’s Minister of Fisheries sought to answer when he met with the governing mayor the head of emergency preparedness for The City of Bergen on April 21 The City of Bergen One Ocean Week.
Just as important as the scheduled events duringOne Ocean Week is the week’s role as a forum for dialogue and the exchange of experiences among decision-makers. On Tuesday, April 21, Sri Lanka’s Minister of Fisheries, Ramalingam Chandrasekar, met with the governing mayor Bergen and the city’s emergency management director to learn more about how The City of Bergen emergency preparedness and crisis management.the governing mayor
the governing mayor B. Meyer, welcomed the delegation from Sri Lanka to the cooperation center and opened the meeting with an overview of Bergen Municipality’s emergency preparedness system:
– It is a great pleasure to welcome the Sri Lankan delegation to Bergen to learn about how we manage strategic and operational emergency preparedness responsibilities here. “Although we have different climates and different emergency preparedness considerations in Bergen and Sri Lanka, there is still much we can learn from each other regarding how we approach preparatory work in the context of emergency preparedness,” said the governing mayor , Christine B. Meyer.
It was Sri Lanka’s Minister of Fisheries, Ramalingam Chandrasekar, who initiated the meeting during his visit to Bergen as part of One Ocean Week. He wanted to gain a better understanding of how emergency response efforts are organized in Bergen and in Norway in general.
Photo: Vibeke Blich
“We explained the principles underlying emergency preparedness in Norway and what that means in practice when we apply them here in Bergen,” said Emergency Preparedness Director Agnar Tvedten.
Managing climate-related incidents
The Minister of Fisheries showed particular interest in the management of climate-related events, as extreme weather conditions pose a significant challenge in Sri Lanka.
“That’s why we also talked about how residents can protect themselves during extreme weather, and about the importance of personal preparedness,” Tvedten continued.
The importance of good coordination
The Sri Lankan delegation highlighted the reception and coordination of non-governmental organizations as one of the greatest challenges in crisis situations. The problem is not a lack of willingness to help, but that efforts are not always directed toward the most urgent needs—and that certain actors can tie up resources that should have been used elsewhere.
– That is why we also talked quite a bit about cooperation and how we in Norway have organized ourselves to get public and private actors to work together. We told them about the Collaboration Center and the role it plays. The Collaboration Center in The City of Bergen designed for municipal crisis management and collaboration in connection with major events and for the municipal crisis management team during major incidents, said the emergency response director.
The coordination center in The City of Bergen designed for municipal crisis management, coordination during major events, and the operation of a municipal crisis management team during serious incidents.
The Sri Lankan consul, as well as representatives from the Institute of Marine Research, also attended the meeting.
