KTH Center for total defence@Almedalen
Sweden is strengthening its total defence, both military and civil. But what does defence innovation mean in a Swedish context? Is it solely an issue for the defence industry and military actors, or do civilian higher education institutions also have a central role through research, systems analysis, education, and experiences from crises?
Time: Wed 2026-06-24 08.00 - 09.00
Location: Kaserngatan 1, Uppsala universitet, D-huset, Uppsala universitet campus Visby, D22
Language: Swedish
Opening remarks at 08:00: Representative from the Swedish Armed Forces and the Campus Totalförsvar steering group.
Society‑critical systems are tightly interconnected and technically complex. They determine Sweden’s resilience in both crises and heightened alert. How are these systems developed so that they are resilient already in their fundamental design—robust, adaptable, and possible to scale up and use for both civilian and military needs?
The discussion links to the need to strengthen the scientific foundation for systemic resilience, where technology, medicine/health, law, and defence science collaborate to analyse how crises spread between energy, health, and infrastructure systems, and how vulnerabilities can be identified before a crisis escalates. Energy systems, medical preparedness, law, supply preparedness, and critical infrastructure are central to total defence. The question is how we create a coherent knowledge and innovation ecosystem that enables a true system perspective, rather than fragmented initiatives.
Participants
- Nicole Kringos, KTH Center for total defence and professor of highway engineering, KTH
- Johan von Schreeb, professor of global disaster medicine, KI
- Annina H. Persson, professor of property law, KTH
- Annika Berthold, Head of the programme office for health and medical care supply preparedness, Region Stockholm
- Henric Johnson, Vice-Chancellor, Blekinge Institute of Technology
- TBD, Svenska kraftnät
- Anders Söderholm, President KTH
Organiser Information
Contacts:
- Nicole Kringos, Professor, KTH — kringos@kth.se
- Annina H. Persson, Professor, KTH — ahpe@kth.se
Event link: almedalsveckan.info/rg/almedalsveckan/evenemang-almedalsveckan/2026/7013
Please note that the main language that will be used is Swedish.