Innovative solutions for tomorrow's civil defense

The national innovation program for civil defense is based on an agreement in principle between Vinnova and the Swedish Civil Defense Agency, which was signed in January 2026. It is a three-year programme with a budget of SEK 10 million per year.

Sweden's civil defense is built on people being strong together. With innovation, we can explore, test and experiment to find new solutions to build tomorrow's civil defense and strengthen people's engagement.

“Combining preparedness, civil defense and innovation is not just a security issue. It is a future issue for Sweden,” says Darja Isaksson, director general of Vinnova.

The effort to strengthen civil defense is a collaboration between Vinnova and the Swedish Civil Defense Agency.

– By combining Vinnova's ability to reach out to innovative companies with our insight into the needs of civil defense, we build solutions that can truly protect the population when it matters, says Mikael Frisell, director general of the Swedish Civil Defense Agency.

Within the program, experiences and lessons learned from ongoing conflicts in, for example, Ukraine will be utilized.

Effort on tomorrow's shelter

The program's first call for proposals is about exploring how tomorrow's shelters and protected spaces can be designed, used and integrated into society.

With its 64,000 shelters, Sweden has one of the world's best shelter systems. But to meet the challenges of tomorrow, our shelters and protected spaces need to be upgraded. By developing prototypes that can be used in practice, the conditions are created for new solutions and ideas that can be used in the near future.