Research Forum on Public Safety and Security
The Research Forum on Public Safety and Security started in October 2009 and is aimed at merging research projects and work of different disciplines and institutions that deal with “Public safety and security”. Inter- and transdisciplinary evaluations of the subject will be developed, which will generate recommended procedures for policy, economy and science. The forum is a research project at the Freie Universität Berlin financed by the German Federal Ministry of Research and Education for 3 years (10/09-9/12) under the direction of Prof. Dr.-Ing. Jochen Schiller.The Research Forum is aimed at:
- analyzing and evaluating in summary the national and international development of public safety and security from a scientific perspective
- synthesizing the body of knowledge of interdisciplinary research on safety and security and contributing to the research
- identifying future trends and relevant subjects for research and contributing to answering them by structuring the research field
- reflecting the social and scientific perspectives of public safety and security and discussing them as to their differences and mutuality
- providing scientific support for the discourse on public safety and security
- deducing recommended procedures for policy, industry and other organizations from the inter- and transdisciplinary results of research.
The Research Forum will organize a 2-day workshop with about 50 participants twice a year. The topics proposed by the coordination office respectively the director of the project will be adjusted between the steering committee and the circle of scientists.
The Research Forum comprises:
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the coordination office, that organizes and is in charge of the leg work of the Research Forum, that cross-links the project scientifically and politically, that raises relevant topics on a research level in exchange with the steering committee and the scientific advisory council. There are 3 members of staff:
- Marie-Luise Beck, coordinator of the project
- Dr. Lars Gerhold, scientific coordinator
- Helga Jäckel, secretary
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the steering committee, that accompanies the project strategically. To the committee belong:
- a member of Parliament appointed by each parliamentary group
- the project manager Prof. Dr. Jochen Schiller
- two representatives from the board of the Forum on the Future of Public Safety and Security (Zukunftsforum Öffentliche Sicherheit e.V.)
- regular representatives from the Federal Ministry of Research and Education and from the Federal Ministry of the Interior
- the scientific advisory council, that advices the project from an interdisciplinary perspective, develops concrete approaches and topics on research of public safety and security and represents the Forum among the scientific community.
The Research Forum on Public Safety and Security is connected with the informal and cross party initiative in the German Parliament, the Forum on the Future of Public Safety and Security. This initiative crosslinked significant players of public safety and security in policy, economy, science and operators in parliament, which in general interact rarely. In September 2008 the Green Book ‘Risks and Challenges for Germany – Scenarios and Key Questions’ was published.
