We cannot know what is coming, but we need to be prepared. Sebastien Rauch, Tomas Kåberger and Robin Teigland are three Chalmers researchers involved in academia’s role in total defence, and they see the need for strong collaboration and greater focus on the vulnerabilities in our systems.

Chalmers is one of around 30 higher education institutions participating in Campus Total Defence, a newly established network that aims to contribute to the competence supply within total defence. Sebastien Rauch, Professor at the Department of Architecture and Civil Engineering, recently took part in one of the network’s meetings together with a group of colleagues.
‘An important message is that we do not know what is coming and must be prepared for many different types of threats. Chalmers can contribute greatly to strengthening society’s preparedness, and we need to share our knowledge in areas such as civil engineering, logistics, AI and production,’ he says.
In his own field, water management, he believes that Sweden has good preparedness in some respects. However, the water systems are largely centralised and therefore more vulnerable. It is also difficult to predict and fully protect against all types of threats and attacks, such as poisoning of water resources, power outages and cyberattacks.
‘Our systems for drinking water, wastewater and stormwater are in many ways interconnected. If the water supply fails, the entire society is affected: many people may fall ill, while defence capability is reduced,’ he says.
He believes Chalmers’ involvement in total defence opens up more opportunities for interdisciplinary collaboration.
‘There is a great deal of expertise here, and at the same time we are used to broad collaborations, for example in sustainability issues. I believe this experience will be very useful in working together with total defence.’

Greater focus on vulnerability needed
Tomas Kåberger, Professor of Industrial Energy Policy, was previously Director General of the Swedish Energy Agency and now coordinates energy research at Chalmers. He believes that the electricity system has become an increasingly important preparedness issue.
‘We have lived for 25 years under the illusion of a global market and eternal peace, and technological development has been driven by goals for economic efficiency and reduced greenhouse gases. At the same time, society has become increasingly dependent on electricity: we used to have newspapers, banknotes and coins, more canned goods than freezers, but now everything relies on electricity always being available,’ he says.
That Sweden has many large facilities, such as hydropower dams and nuclear power plants, means that an attack could have major consequences.
‘These facilities contain large amounts of energy that can cause great damage to the surroundings,’ he says.
The war in Ukraine has shown the vulnerability of energy facilities: Russia has destroyed electricity and district heating systems in Ukraine, and Ukraine has struck facilities handling fossil fuels in Russia. In Sweden, the vulnerability of the electricity system became clear after the storms Gudrun and Per 15–20 years ago, when power outages affected food supply and knocked out telecommunications.
‘Chalmers has expertise in the energy field that is important for total defence. But research and education need to highlight vulnerabilities and how they can be reduced,’ he says.
He also believes that Chalmers has an important role in countering disinformation and influence campaigns in the energy sector.
‘The geopolitical conflicts have made electricity supply a burning issue. It is an important task for us researchers to counter false and misleading campaigns aimed at weakening the EU’s energy policy and maintaining demand for the energy that Russia exports,’ he says.

Chalmers provides an important holistic perspective
Robin Teigland, Professor at the Department of Technology Management and Economics, believes that Chalmers is uniquely positioned to contribute to total defence.
‘Chalmers has extensive knowledge in areas central to total defence, and strong collaborations with industry and society. At the same time, there is much interdisciplinary research, and knowledge about how to drive development and innovation. All this enables us to offer a systems and holistic perspective that is important for a resilient society,’ she says.
Robin Teigland researches digital transformations and points out that society’s rapid and extensive digitalisation has made us more vulnerable and dependent on external actors. Our payment systems are particularly exposed, as Swish and online payments have almost entirely replaced cash.
‘If the payment systems fail, the entire society may come to a halt; companies cannot make purchases, produce or receive payments, people cannot buy food, medicine or travel to work. We could also be subjected to attacks that control what we can and cannot buy,’ she says.
To reduce vulnerability, companies and authorities need to conduct scenario exercises and develop solutions for attacks on financial systems.
‘Backup systems, offline solutions… We need to reduce our dependence on all the major systems we are part of. And we do not have to digitalise everything just for the sake of digitalisation,’ she says.
All researchers can contribute
Creating circular economies at the local level is important for increasing defence capability, emphasises Robin Teigland. In one of her projects, Surf-LSAM, discarded fishing nets in a Portuguese village are transformed into new raw materials and locally demanded products.
‘We need to challenge traditional ideas about global logistics chains and economies of scale with overproduction. Manufacturing systems that utilise local resources reduce vulnerability and the need to transport goods around the world,’ she says.
She sees Chalmers’ participation in Campus Total Defence as an opportunity – and a responsibility – for all researchers to consider how they can contribute to strengthening competence within total defence.
‘It is important that we discuss scenarios related to our fields and find collaborations where we can make a difference. Also outside academia,’ she says.
More about Total Defence
Total defence refers to all essential societal activities, both military and civilian, that must continue in the event of heightened readiness and war. Civil defence consists of individuals, authorities, companies and organisations. Together, these actors must ensure that society can continue to function even during heightened readiness and war by, among other things, protecting the civilian population, safeguarding essential societal functions and maintaining necessary supplies.
Source: Swedish Defence University
More about Campus Total Defence
Campus Total Defence is a strategic collaboration between Swedish higher education institutions aimed at strengthening Sweden’s total defence through education and research. The initiative is led by the Swedish Defence University, Örebro University and Luleå University of Technology, and is supported by a number of key players from both the public and private sectors. In the most recent government budget, SEK 30 million was allocated to prepare and operate Campus Total Defence starting from 1 April 2025, and an additional SEK 10 million in funding has been provided by the Knowledge Foundation (KK-stiftelsen).
Source: Swedish Defence University
Contact
- Head of Unit, Research, Innovation and Collaboration Support, Chalmers Operations Support