Project information
Project manager
Joel Martinsson
Participating organizations
Linnaeus University
Financier
Crafoordska stiftelsen
Timetable
1 Oct 2025 – 1 jJan 2029
Subject
Political Science (Department of Political Science, Faculty of Social Sciences)
More about the project
Climate change increasingly forces politicians, civil servants, and first responders to confront difficult ethical dilemmas during crises. Should priority be given to the most vulnerable, those who obey evacuation orders, or those who refuse to leave despite imminent danger? How should individual freedom be weighed against collective safety?
The project Saving of Swedovia (SOS) addresses these questions by developing an interactive simulation game where players step into the roles of politicians, firefighters, nurses, and police officers during a large-scale climate-induced wildfire.
The game investigates how different groups make decisions, what values they balance, and how reasoning differs between practitioners and citizens.
Three empirical studies will be carried out: a pilot with students, a study with professionals in their work context, and a large-scale population study.
The findings will inform the creation of a new framework, Resilient Ethics in Crisis Action (RECA), designed to guide how ethical, professional, and democratic values can be balanced in crisis decision-making.
The project will finally seek to write a popular science book, When Nature Strikes Back: Duties and Decisions During Disasters, presenting the research to a broader audience and stimulating public debate about the values that should guide decision-making in climate crises. In this way, the project aims both to strengthen professional capacity and to enhance citizens’ trust in democratic crisis governance.
