With the EU-funded TRANSCEND project (Transdisciplinary methods for societal impact assessment and impact creation for security research technologies), the Austrian Red Cross, together with partners from all over Europe, are working to improve the engagement of civil society in the area of security innovations.
The aim is to help individuals and organizations actively and creatively participate in iterative design and delivery processes. TRANSCEND is developing a toolbox of methods to enable this integration. The toolkit created in the project will be tested in four topic areas: “Cybersecurity”, “Fighting crime and terrorism”, “Border management” and “Disaster-resilient societies” – the latter under the direction of the Austrian Red Cross.
Civil society via Team Österreich
Team Österreich was established in 2007 as a joint initiative by Hitradio Ö3 and the Austrian Red Cross in response to a major flood in Austria. The disaster revealed a strong public willingness to volunteer but also highlighted the need for better coordination of spontaneous helpers. To address this, Team Österreich created a web-based database where citizens could register their skills and availability, allowing for more structured and efficient mobilization before and during crises. Volunteers who join the initiative gain access to insurance coverage, logistical support, and structured deployment within the Red Cross system, ensuring a scalable and well-managed response to disasters.
Given its role in mobilizing civil society, Team Österreich offered the research team an ideal gateway to engage with volunteers in the field of disaster resilience. In collaboration with the Vienna Regional Association, TÖ members were invited to a workshop in February 2024 designed using the TRANSCEND project toolkit. During the session, participants tested and discussed the application, providing insights into its potential for security innovation within the Team Österreich digital app. Their feedback—coming from a diverse group of supervisors, local commanders, decision-makers, voluntary social workers, and disaster relief personnel—was overwhelmingly positive, emphasizing the value of engaging volunteers in research projects and empowering them to shape future disaster response strategies
Aid organizations as a link
To ensure that civil society engagement translates into meaningful action, emergency and aid organizations act as crucial intermediaries. They bridge the gap between individuals, volunteers, and policymakers, ensuring that insights from civil society influence decision-making in disaster resilience and security research. Here, they serve as information providers and service providers in the different phases of crisis and disaster management – from prevention and preparedness, through the actual operational phase to reconstruction measures.
Effective decisions
In the final setting of the toolkit testing workshop series, decision-makers, Team Österreich supervisors (regional level), local commanders, voluntary social workers & disaster relief managers from all over Austria were invited to a meeting entitled “Humanitarian disaster relief and civil society engagement” in Vienna in November 2024. In total, 22 participants discussed the effects of their decisions and measures taken in the event of a disaster on the population and civil commitment, drawing on security research. In the Disaster Resilient Societies Pilot, ARC shed light on the Red Cross’s commitment after disasters and extreme events, to further develop the Team Österreich app and to learn from each other and from our experiences. The aim of the meeting was to develop a constantly evolving catalogue and concept of good practices, checklists, support formats, action list, etc.
Federal Commander in Charge, Gerry Foitik, sums the Disaster Resilient Societies Pilot up positively with reference to the TRANSCEND project: “In view of climate change and the increase in disasters, we need resilient societies. We can achieve this not only by strengthening emergency and aid organizations, but above all through the active participation of civil society – in preparation, in the event of an emergency or in reconstruction. The TRANSCEND project plays a crucial role in this by developing and implementing innovative approaches that promote the participation of civil society and thus strengthen resilience to disasters.”
Written by Danka Schmidt, Austrian Red Cross
If you would like to learn more about this work, please feel free to contact us at contact@transcend-project.eu.
