Civil Protection Network (CIVPRO) Seminar on Critical Infrastructure Protection
Helsinki, Finland. Dr. Pam Collins, Executive Director of the Justice & Safety Center, Eastern Kentucky University, was a keynote speaker at the Civil Protection Network (CIVPRO) Seminar on Critical Infrastructure Protection held in Helsinki, Finland at the University of Helsinki’s Aleksanteri Institute. CIVPRO is an international group of agencies that focus on emergency preparedness and critical infrastructure. Attendees to Dr. Collins presentation included representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, Cisco Systems, Siemens, the Finnish Ministry Of Defense, National Emergency Supply Agency, Estonian Ministry of Defense, the Russian Embassy, and the Prime Ministers Office.
Dr. Collins was invited to speak at CIVPRO by the Aleksanteri Institute, which operates as a national centre of research, study and expertise pertaining to Russia and Eastern Europe, particularly in the social sciences and humanities. The institute co-ordinates and promotes co-operation and interaction between the academic world, public administration, business life and civil society in Finland and abroad.
After presenting her speech, Critical Infrastructure & continuity of Operations in a Post 9/11 World, Dr. Collins remarked at the tremendous interest in the conference, “It was encouraging to see their deep interest in the importance of Critical Infrastructure Protection.”
Other speakers included Dr. Timo Hellenberg, Head of the CIVPRO Network located at the Aleksanteri Institute, and Mr. Aapo Cederberg, the Secretary-General of the Secretariat of Security and Defense Committee in Finland.
Dr. Collins has long worked at building a relationship with organizations in the European and Nordic communities, and has given presentations to the European Emergency Number Association, EENA, who are working towards a one-emergency number system for all of Europe, and was asked to join the board of the Nordic and International Network for Safety and Security, NINSS.
The Aleksanteri Institute was founded in 1996. It has grown rapidly into a working community of around 50 people, including doctoral students in the Institute's Graduate School who work at their respective universities.
For more information on the Aleksanteri Institute or CIVPRO, visit their web site
