The research at RCR focuses on risk, crisis and/or sustainability from a societal perspective, in contrast to a psychological or technical perspective. Many of the research projects are interdisciplinary and collaborative. Learn about our research areas and projects.

Our main research areas

Risk Research

The risk research can be divided into two areas.

The first area includes analyzes of how risks are constructed in relation to normative discourses and power structures in society such as; age, gender, class, ethnicity and sexuality etc.

The second area includes risk assessment in the field of law enforcement, logistics and decision-making models, risk management and risk policy. The risk research is conducted in computer and system sciences, criminology, economics, sociology and political science and collaborates with both public and private actors.

Research coordinator: Minna Lundgren

Crisis Research

In the crisis research trajectory within RCR we adopt a broad view on the concept in both theoretic and practical terms. We research both everyday crises and more extensive events and we focus on professional crisis management actors, as well as voluntary organizations and ordinary households. We pay special attention to the relational perspective of crisis management as well as its delineation through the study of managerial arrangements, collaborations, communication, networks and learning. We also conduct critical analyses on how societal power structures and power differentials play out in the field.

Finally, in the context of RCR lab, we develop ethical approaches, methods, and procedures for epistemic analyses of crises and extraordinary events through the use of experiments and exercises.

Research coordinator: Lena-Maria Öberg

Research on sustainability

Research conducted within RCR addresses the four dimensions of sustainability (economic, social, ecological and cultural) and makes it clear that unsustainable societal processes risk creating risks and crises. The interdisciplinary research in the area aims at considering multiple dimensions of sustainability simultaneously.

This research has a regional and local perspective. For this reason, the objects of study are usually local communities, groups, families or individuals.

Research coordinator: Gustav Lidén

Ongoing Research Projects

Housing, integration, and labor

A comparison of Sweden's larger cities shows that, in segregated housing areas, income levels are lower and health risks for the residents are higher. Where you live also proves to be of great...

Management through networks

This project studies the so-called River groups. The focus is on how collaboration between private and public actors functions as a tool for risk and crisis management. They also study network...

Putting out Fires: A Multiple Streams Analysis

What happens after we put out the (forest) fire? Are we prepared for the next one? This project will investigate whether and how crisis preparedness and management, as a policy sector at the local...