On January 22, 2024, the Union of Estonian Architects (UEA) initiated a working group to address the issues of providing bomb shelters and public hiding places for the protection of the civilians. “The working group has met already three times, and the participants include all the relevant parties from the perspective of multi-level governance, most recently including representatives of the Estonian Ministry of the Interior and the Estonian Rescue Board,” said Hannes Nagel, Head of the Crisis Research Centre and representative in the working group.

At the working group meeting, Priit Laaniste, Head of the Department of Undersecretary for Rescue and Crisis Management, presented the proposal being prepared by the Ministry of the Interior to the Government of the Republic of Estonia to establish the shelter policy at the level of law. “The importance of the details has now been recognised by the Estonian Ministry of the Interior, which is preparing a concrete proposal with a focus on details and terminology, contrary to the opinion piece published by the Director of the Rescue Board on January 16. The public sector and politicians in general need to understand that specificity and details are vital in civil defence matters,” added Nagel.

In addition to the Crisis Research Centre, experts from the construction sector, the Estonian Ministry of Climate Change, the Estonian Ministry of Regional Development and Agriculture are also contributing to the working group led by UEA.

Photo: meeting of the working group on March 4 at UEA (Crisis Research Centre, 2024).