Resilience Fair: what is the university’s role?

Providing stability in a turbulent world, finding solutions to security challenges and empowering citizens to be resilient. According to René Paas, the King’s Commissioner, these are the university’s most important tasks regarding resilience and (national) security. As keynote speaker, he recently visited the Resilience Fair at House of Connections, where attendees learned about the latest developments in this area at the University of Groningen.

^{Text: Jelle Posthuma}

Remco Kouwenhoven and Stephan van Galen, who delivered the opening address on behalf of the university, emphasised that language matters. In the context of universities, the term ‘weerbaarheid’ may conjure up images of student societies traditionally lining the route on Prinsjesdag. However, ‘weerbaarheid’ at universities is better captured by the English term ‘resilience’: how do we, as individuals and as an organisation, remain steadfast in turbulent times? This makes it a broad theme, with the key question being: how do we respond to challenging scenarios? Are we prepared?

A wake-up call

Power cuts, water shortages and cyber-attacks: scenarios that have not exactly been top of mind for most Dutch people in recent decades. According to several participants, the situation is different in other countries, including elsewhere in Europe. In Finland, for example, it is common practice for students to be trained as resilient citizens. But in the Netherlands too, the Trump presidency has woken us up. One of the academics present also noted this: she was no longer welcome in the US because of her own research. Resilience is all about vulnerabilities, according to another attendee. As a fifth-generation university, the University of Groningen assesses these vulnerabilities and contributes to potential solutions.

But what does this mean in specific terms for the role of the university? What does society expect from the University of Groningen? Keynote speaker René Paas addressed this question. The King’s Commissioner immediately emphasised his discomfort with the question: he did not want to overreach. After all, he could not simply proclaim a single, unambiguous vision of security and resilience on behalf of all the people of the Northern Netherlands or society as a whole. Nevertheless, he outlined an insightful vision of a resilient society, in which the university, in particular, has a crucial role to play.

Urgency

The Commissioner referred to the work of Francis Fukuyama, who, following the fall of communism in the 1990s, proclaimed ‘the end of history’. According to Fukuyama, liberal democracies were to mark the end of history. We now know that little has come of that end. To quote Paas: the world is on fire.

Global conflicts present a wide range of challenges for a knowledge institution such as the University of Groningen. Talented students and staff from abroad encounter a mindset characterised by the strict enforcement of national borders. Major commercial players, better known as Big Tech, are increasingly at odds with the values of academic institutions. Meanwhile, elected representatives and public officials are facing growing threats, which pose a danger to our constitutional democracy.

The realisation that ‘something’ needs to be done is sinking in ever more deeply among citizens and officials. Whereas, according to Paas, the campaign to save the Johan Willem Friso Barracks in Assen was a lost cause for years, there is now substantial investment in national defence. More and more citizens are stocking up on emergency kits. And Paas, as King’s Commissioner, is now, for the first time, being asked questions about the province of Groningen’s emergency preparedness. A question he has never been asked before in his long career as public servant.

Leading role

As an alumnus, Paas has high expectations of the University of Groningen. The role of the University of Groningen is threefold, he explained. Firstly, the university is the place where resilience challenges are analysed. But it goes further than that: with its proven scientific method, the university is a stabilising force in a turbulent world. The University of Groningen provides reliable knowledge on which policy makers and politicians can base their decisions.

Secondly, the university is the place where solutions to societal risks are actually being developed. Paas sees this as an opportunity for the University of Groningen to position itself as a knowledge driver for greater strategic autonomy. Finally, the university plays a role in educating resilient citizens: in addition to providing academic training, the University of Groningen contributes to the upbringing of its students, shaping them into citizens who can function in a complex world.

The university is taking on this role in various areas, as was evident from the poster presentations that followed. A range of topics were covered, such as knowledge security, responsible international cooperation, integrated security, training programmes for professionals within the University of Groningen in the field of security, and various areas of research such as cybersecurity and resilience to disinformation.

Viorica Melenberg, coordinator of external collaboration, also shared the latest academic developments on the topic of resilience.  For instance, the University of Groningen is not only a key partner in the Safety Campus – a consortium of educational institutions and (safety) organisations in the North, with University of Groningen researcher Sipke de Hoop acting as 'kwartiermaker' – but has also recently appointed Remco Kouwenhoven as Programme Manager for Safety and Resilience. Furthermore, after the summer, the existing Rudolf Agricola School will incorporate resilience, social cohesion and safety as new themes.

The bar is set high for the university, Paas acknowledged towards the end of his speech. And rightly so: a resilient society demands great commitment. According to the King’s Commissioner, the university has what it takes to fulfil that role. And awareness, he emphasised, often begins with self-awareness. Therefore, be resilient and self-aware, was his closing message to the audience.