Week 19 will be Denmark’s new readiness week: *"It’s something we can use in the future."*

From now on, there will be a preparedness week in spring that will shape the school schedule of Danish primary and lower secondary school students.

The preparedness week is based on experiences from Sweden and Norway.

Starting from this week, week 19 from May 4th to May 10th, we will dedicate a week each year to practicing what we would do if a crisis struck the country.

What would you do if the water stopped flowing from the tap, or if it suddenly became necessary to seek shelter?

The Ministry of Preparedness has decided that we will have a preparedness week from May 4th to May 10th.

For example, a week where school students can engage in various activities that prepare them for crisis situations.

This resonates well at Løgumkloster Upper Secondary School, where Enok Mogensen is a teacher of social studies and instructor on the Adventure Line.

- As a school, we should be part of preparing students for the challenges they may face in society. This changes over time, but right now we are in a security situation where it makes a lot of sense to have a preparedness week, he says.

- Of course, we will do this in a way that does not scare the students. But we need to prepare them for different scenarios so they can handle it when and if the situation arises, says Enok Mogensen.

He envisions teaching students about scenarios where there is no electricity or water, or where they need to seek shelter.

Students Clara Dorthea Krüger and Kasper Lausten Thomsen from the upper secondary school also welcome the prospect of a week dedicated to preparedness in their school schedule.

- We have never had any instruction in preparedness. I think we can learn a lot from it, and it’s also something we can use in the future, says Clara Dorthea Krüger.

Both Kasper Lausten Thomsen and Clara Dorthea Krüger attend the Adventure Line at Løgumkloster Upper Secondary School.

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**"They should know how to act"**

One place where young people are already being taught crisis management is at Danish Preparedness.

Here, Maria Wiktoria Karolini is project manager for the initiative called Youth in Preparedness, where they develop workshops for 9th grade students and upper secondary schools.

- We want children and young people to experience firsthand what happens if the electricity goes out or there is a flood. And then they should know how to act, she explains about the project’s purpose.

When they conduct workshops, students first learn what a crisis is and what kind of crisis preparedness we have in Denmark, she says.

- This should give students a sense of security, knowing what happens and what adults do.

Afterward, students practice how they can help themselves and others.

For Clara Dorthea Krüger, the instruction on the adventure line at the upper secondary school has already provided some good experiences, such as cooking without electricity.

- We have practiced cooking over a fire in the adventure subject, so we already know a bit about that, she says.

But there are other things she would like to learn more about.

- For example, it would be exciting to have a visit from some firefighters and learn from their experiences, she says.

Another student, Kasper Lausten Thomsen, can imagine that it would be a different experience to be taught without electricity.

- We use electrical aids all the time. So we would have to go back to just a teacher and books, he says.

The preparedness week will take place from May 4th to May 10th, the same week as the annual siren warning test.

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