Geir Ove Venemyr

• Venemyr, Geir Ove (2025). Making the most out of a little: How compact collaboration exercises for crisis management teams can lead to organisational learning. International Journal of Disaster Risk Reduction. 127, s. 1–16. doi: 10.1016/j.ijdrr.2025.105677. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  All crises occur in one or more municipalities, and local communities must be prepared to deal with crises, often with the support of external helpers. The collaboration of crisis response therefore requires a comprehensive set of skills and is widely recognised as an important part of crisis management. Exercises can serve as forums for collaboration training. However, it can be difficult for municipal crisis management teams to find time and resources for training in a busy schedule. Hence, there is a need to provide exercises with a high degree of realism at a low cost, both from a time and a resource perspective. The objective of this study is to explore how a compact, functional exercise, tailored for regional collaboration, contributes to learning within and between organisations. The findings suggest that short, targeted collaboration exercises can contribute to organisational learning, and that learning improves the perceived usefulness and motivation for further exercises and preparedness work. They also show that both the characteristics of the exercise framework and the learning climate are important for organisational learning.

• Venemyr, Geir Ove (2024). Unified Effort: Developing a Mixed Reality Serious Game for Collaborative Crisis Management Training. Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning (ECGBL). ISSN 2049-0992. 18(1), s. 829–838. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Crises and disasters include both predictable and unpredictable events. In a turbulent world that has recently experienced a pandemic and wars, and is increasingly affected by climate change, there is a growing need to develop effective public crisis management capabilities. Emergency preparedness is a critical foundation for crisis management. Training and exercises are essential components of preparedness and are becoming increasingly relevant for a wide range of organisations in society. To achieve a unified response to threatening events, a wide range of actors - with different backgrounds, objectives, competencies and organisational frameworks - must overcome the challenges of working together. To address this complex situation, forums for knowledge sharing and learning are required. Serious games in mixed reality can be used as a platform for collaborative training and serve as such a forum. Mixed reality systems connect virtual and physical reality, providing users with a sense of immersion, engagement and interaction in both environments. The aim of this paper is to design a short, serious game for collaboration training with two command levels in a mixed reality. Theories of crisis management, along with related research on serious games design, create the framework for the game. The game content was further developed in a co-design process with selected professionals. This paper describes the development of the “Unified Effort” game. The serious game is designed for basic training of municipalities and county offices in soft skills such as communication, situational awareness and group decision making. The game is not intended to replace hard skills such as procedural training and field drills, but can be used as a supplement to this type of training. Keywords: Crisis Management, Societal Security, Training and Exercise, Serious Games, Mixed Reality,

• Venemyr, Geir Ove (2024). Towards Proactive Crisis Management Innovation: A Meta-Narrative Literature Review of Drivers and Barriers. Nordic Journal of Innovation in the Public Sector (NJIPS). 3(1), s. 1–16. doi: 10.18261/njips.3.1.4. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Krisehåndtering kan deles i fire stadier; forebygging, forberedelse, respons og gjenoppretting. Denne sykliske prosessen er samfunnets måte å beskytte seg mot truende hendelser på. Det er begrenset med forskning på innovasjon innen krisehåndtering på lokalt, regionalt og nasjonalt nivå og det er derfor viktig å undersøke hvilke faktorer som støtter eller hindrer innovasjonsprosessen. Denne artikkelen er en systematisk litteraturgjennomgang som kobler forskning på offentlig innovasjon med krisehåndterings- og beredskapsteori for å identifisere drivere og barrierer for innovasjon innen krisehåndtering i offentlig sektor. Resultatene viser at selve krisen i seg selv kan representere en viktig driver for innovasjon, men at den ofte ekstreme konteksten gjør innovasjonsprosesser utfordrende. Artikkelen vektlegger også noen få, men viktige, drivere og barrierer for innovasjon før en krise inntreffer og diskuterer viktigheten av innovasjon i alle fire fasene av krisehåndteringssyklusen. Konseptuelt bidrar denne artikkelen til et fremtidig rammeverk for «moderne krisehåndtering», der innovasjon er en viktig del av krisehåndteringsstrategien.

• Magnusson, Monika; Venemyr, Geir Ove; Bellström, Peter & Bakken, Bjørn T. (2019). Digitalizing Crisis Management Training. I Panagiotopoulos, Panos; Edelmann, Noella; Glassey, Olivier; Misuraca, Gianluca; Parycek, Peter; Lampoltshammer, Thomas & Re, Barbara (Red.), Electronic Participation - 11th IFIP WG 8.5 International Conference, ePart 2019. Springer Nature. ISSN 9783030273965. doi: 10.1007/978-3-030-27397-2_9. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The ongoing digital transformation in government has enabled innovative changes in operational processes and service. However, while e-services and social media are widely adopted, earlier studies indicate that this transformation is still being awaited in other areas, such as crisis or disaster preparedness. Recent events such as the 2018 wildfires in several parts of Europe, as well as empirical research, highlight the need for more (systematic) training of local governments’ crisis management teams. Conventional training methods are timeand space-dependent and require long-term planning, making it complicated to increase the extent of training. In this interdisciplinary study, we report on the results from the Swedish-Norwegian CriseIT project that aimed to develop information systems (IS) for crisis management training. The purpose of the article is to describe information systems designed to support local governments’ crisis management training and to discuss how these artefacts could improve crisis management training practices.

• Ranglund, Ole Jørgen Stefferud; Haave, Hanne Marit; Venemyr, Geir Ove; Vold, Aud Tone & Braun, Robin (2018). Gaming and Scenario Building: A Student Active Approach to Learning. Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning (ECGBL). ISSN 2049-0992. s. 526–532. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ranglund, Ole Jørgen Stefferud; Venemyr, Geir Ove; Haave, Hanne Marit & Vold, Aud Tone (2018). How to utilize student input in crisis management education. Proceedings of the European Conference on Knowledge Management. ISSN 2048-8971. 2, s. 741–746. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Vold, Aud Tone; Haave, Hanne Marit; Ranglund, Ole Jørgen Stefferud; Venemyr, Geir Ove; Bakken, Bjørn T. & Kiønig, Linda Vibeke [Vis alle 7 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2018). Flipped Gaming - testing three simulation games. I Trussell, H. Joel (Red.), 2018 17th International Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training (ITHET). IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). ISSN 9781538646236. s. 1–6. doi: 10.1109/ITHET.2018.8424622. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Venemyr, Geir Ove; Bakken, Bjørn T.; Kiønig, Linda Vibeke; Ranglund, Ole Jørgen Stefferud; Holen, Stig & Haave, Hanne Marit [Vis alle 8 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2017). Flipped gaming for enhanced learning outcome crisis preparedness courses, 2017 16th International Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training (ITHET). IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). ISSN 9781538639689. doi: 10.1109/ithet.2017.8067830. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Preparing for crisis and incidents have gained an increased focus, also within the educational system. At The Inland University of Applied Sciences, Campus Rena, in Norway, a Bachelor study is developed to cater for the increased need for educating staff not only in municipalities, but also in private organizations. Regulations and governmental instructions have also created a void between staff that can and know how to handle crisis and staff that need to know how to handle crisis. In addition, the preparedness issue, in order to avoid crisis, has received a lot of attention. The study has until recently been a mix of ordinary classroom education and exercises, both live and table top exercises, both which is costly and time consuming both in planning and execution. Two years ago, some faculty staff and a small group of students started to look into using games for educational purposes. Some of the games were free ware and downloadable from the internet, another game was developed by Bohemia Interactive Simulations (https://bisimulations.com/). Combining using MeTracker (http://www.concordeproject.eu/index.php/results/developments/the-training-tools/1-metracker) for organizing the work during a training process, and the developed game, this has proved to be a powerful tool for learning about how to be prepared for and handle crisis. Even if the initial costs for development and licenses have been somewhat substantial, the tools will provide the students with a unique possibility of simulating crisis in a higher volume than what is possible using live exercises. So far, the faculty staff has developed the scenarios for the students to play. The change from this is now to use a game based environment to play scenarios developed by the students themselves. The students that have tested this is in the third year of their study and the preliminary feedback from the students on this approach has been positive. The paper presents the results from interviews and observations, looking to establish how this approach has supported an enhanced learning outcome. Preliminary results provide support to the ideas of using the students own backgrounds and starting the reflection processes earlier (than in “ordinary” exercises). Also letting the students be actors in their own scenario can contribute towards the learning outcome. This combination of utilizing a game based and computer-based environment, with a physical play sphere, in combination with a prior session with scenario development, can prove to be the next step in utilizing game based learning. The paper also present a theoretical reasoning for utilizing games, and discuss how developing scenarios support reflection processes that will in turn enhance learning outcomes from a course. Kolb’s experiential learning cycle in its original form provide valuable clues towards the processes that needs to be considered, and Donald Schön’s works regarding the “reflective practitioner” contributes to enhance the understanding of how the learning process and how we as faculty staff can support our students in becoming reflective practitioners that are better equipped to prevent and handle crisis.

• Vold, Aud Tone; Ranglund, Ole Jørgen Stefferud; Haave, Hanne Marit; Kiønig, Linda Vibeke; Venemyr, Geir Ove & Lervik, Monica Johannesen [Vis alle 12 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2017). Flipped Gaming: The Teachers Role When Using the Students as Content Providers. Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning (ECGBL). ISSN 2049-0992. s. 730–735. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  In order to activate students and make them active contributors in a class, the concept of “Flipped Classroom” has been used at several Universities, also at The Inland University of Applied Sciences Norway. Flipping the classroom and making the students contribute, and being active, has supported the students learning outcome. Generally, when using games for learning, the game scenario is either decided by the lecturer/teacher, or defined by the designers and/or producers of the game used. In this paper we will explore how the teachers/lecturers role changes when the scenarios to be played in the game environment are defined and developed by the students themselves. The methodological approach is mainly qualitative and the data are observations from gaming sessions, minutes from review processes and interviews with faculty staff responsible for the course. The paper will present how the lecturer/teacher changes role from being the center of attention and the provider of knowledge, to a facilitator that both empowe the students and enables the students to contribute towards developing increased understanding and enhanced learning outcome. By enabling the students to contribute in such a way, the support towards the reflection processes described by Donald Schön in his work “The reflective practitioner” from 1991, is being supported in all stages. The reflection before action is when they discuss and agree on scenario, they need to reflect in action upon action, and they need to reflect on action when finished gaming. These reflection processes need to be facilitated in order to support the learning process and when flipping the gaming, this is one of the roles of the facilitator; the lecturer/teacher. The paper will present a project called “Seed corn 2017 – Pedagogical Use of Games in Crisis Management Education”, using a course at The Inland Norway University of Applied Sciences, Campus Rena, Norway, and the results from the Research.

• Vold, Aud Tone; Kiønig, Linda Vibeke; Haave, Hanne Marit; Ranglund, Ole Jørgen Stefferud; Venemyr, Geir Ove & Bakken, Bjørn T. [Vis alle 9 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2017). How Can User Generated Content in Games Foster Enhanced Learning Outcome. Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning (ECGBL). ISSN 2049-0992. 1(1), s. 724–729. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Games used for learning purposes, also called «serious games» have been a focus for research for several years. However, the content is either developed by pedagogues or game designers. This paper is investigating if using a «dewanian» take on the content development can enhance the learning outcome. Assuming, like in a Socratic dialogue, that the answers lie within the learners themselves, there is no reason as to why the content, or to be more precise; the scenarios, could be developed by the learners. Given a game environment, like a city, a port, or other geographical representation, what is happening there can be based on the learners input. In this way it is also possible for faculty staff to keep on track with the students perception of relevance to a present or future worklife. At The Inland University of Applied Sciences, Campus Rena, we have tested out making the students come up with scenarios depicting different crisis scenarios. These scenarios are then given to the game master for the game environment and played. The class that has tested this, were divided in two groups. Most of the students, though not all, have a background within crisis management, and all attend the 6th semester of their BA in Crisis Management study. Both groups handed in a scenario to the game master. The game master developed the scenario in the game environment and then the group that «owned» the scenario was playing out different issues. The other group were the responding units. When both groups’ scenarios were played, the groups met for an «after action review». The preliminary results show that this increased the realism in the gaming sessions. The paper will present an in-depth presentation of the course layout, and a complete review of the feedback from the students. The data is mainly qualitative and are based on observations and interviews with the students. Using games this way was indeed a ludic way of learning more about crisis. There were some issues that needed to be addressed, like the communication devices, but the total impression were positive. To be able to contribute with a scenario they had built on their own, they also found to be supportive of their learning process.

• Vold, Aud Tone; Kiønig, Linda Vibeke; Venemyr, Geir Ove; Wenstad, Morten; Granlien, Petter & Klevhus, Anders [Vis alle 7 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2016). Training For Crisis Using Games: Testing of Game Based Technology "in The Making". Proceedings of the European Conference on Games Based Learning (ECGBL). ISSN 2049-0992. s. 722–728. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Ranglund, Ole Jørgen Stefferud; Kiønig, Linda Vibeke; Holen, Stig; Vold, Aud Tone; Venemyr, Geir Ove & Bakken, Bjørn T. [Vis alle 7 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2016). Using Games for Teaching Crisis Communication in Higher Education and Training. I N, N (Red.), 2016 15th International Conference on Information Technology Based Higher Education and Training (ITHET),ITHET 2016, September 8-10, 2016, Istanbul, Turkey. IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers). ISSN 9781509007776. doi: 10.1109/ITHET.2016.7760752. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  Abstract: Terror actions and catastrophes are frequently described in media. As more and more countries experience terror actions and natural disasters, there has been a greater focus on learning how to handle and to manage them. In Norway on the 22nd of July 2011, Anders Behring Breivik placed a bomb in a car that exploded near the Governmental Offices killing 8 persons. He went on to an island where there was a political camp for youths killing another 67. The rescue operations unveiled an unprepared task force. The Gjrv-report provide a massive critique towards the call out services [1]. This kicked off a major work on updating safety routines in all municipalities. The municipalities are now obliged to have a plan for crisis preparedness [2]. This again triggered the need for education within the area of crisis preparedness, crisis training and crisis management. Hedmark University of Applied Science now offers different study programs, including a BA within these areas. It is, however, very expensive to train realistically and the need for different approaches regarding training has been discussed. One of the solutions that the University is currently working on, is the use of games. Game based learning, also called “serious games”, has become an academic genre and using games for learning and training has proven fruitful [3-12]. In the military, games have been used for simulation purposes [13] and spin offs from these have also reached a commercial market [14, 15]. Using games in education opens up a range of opportunities. One of them is within the area of Crisis Communication. Crisis Communication as a curriculum is about how to approach the area of crisis communication, understanding the key concepts and develop skills within the curriculum. Games that support communication between the gamers can for instance contribute towards a greater understanding of communication in a crisis situation. What is needed to communicate and how messages are received, in order to support handling a crisis, are amongst the concrete learning objectives one can attribute towards this type of training. To use games to support the hands on training can thus provide the learners with valuable know how, and support their learning outcome. The learning from this will be beneficial to the organizations they work in as they will have an experience that will aid them in the work on planning for and preparing for crisis in their own organizations.

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• Venemyr, Geir Ove (2022). Conceptualisation of Innovation in Crisis Management in Public Organisations -A scoping review. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Pettersson, John S. & Venemyr, Geir Ove (2021). Engage the engaged to continue crisis training and other lessons learned from two demonstration exercises with LMS. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Venemyr, Geir Ove; Bakken, Bjørn T.; Haave, Hanne Marit; Ranglund, Ole Jørgen Stefferud & Vold, Aud Tone (2021). Å lære om beredskap for å sikre bærekraft - akademias mulighet til å påvirke. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Martinsen, Øyvind L.; Fosse, Thomas Hol; Johansen, rino & Venemyr, Geir Ove (2020). A New Perspective on Military Leadership. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Vold, Aud Tone; Ranglund, Ole Jørgen Stefferud; Venemyr, Geir Ove; Bakken, Bjørn T. & Haave, Hanne Marit (2017). Knowledge Sharing Utilizing Student Input to Scenario Building in Gaming. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Bergh, Johan & Venemyr, Geir Ove (2013). Chief of Defence’s (CHOD) Policy on Leadership in the Norwegian Armed Forces. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv
• Venemyr, Geir Ove & Bakken, Bjørn Tallak (2025). Innovations in Crisis Management Training and Exercises – a Systemic Approach. Universitet i Innlandet / University of Inland Norway. ISSN 9788283805710. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv Vis sammendrag

  The frequency, cost, and severity of crises and disasters are increasing globally, with examples including flooding, forest fires, pandemics, hybrid threats, international conflicts, terrorism, and civil unrest. As a result, crisis management capacity has become a critical component of modern governance and an essential public service. Effective crisis response requires collaboration among key actors—such as County Governors, municipalities, private organisations, and other stakeholders—who collectively form a crisis management system comprising both experienced and inexperienced participants. Expertise in crisis management is typically developed through shared experiences, training, and practice. However, despite the importance of learning from past incidents and exercises, research suggests that such learning processes are often fraught with challenges. The aim of this dissertation is to explore how collaboration exercises conducted during the pre-crisis stage can help diverse organisations build resilience through learning and innovation. Resilience is broadly defined as the ability to prepare for, absorb, and recover from threats, while innovation encompasses products, processes, concepts, methods, approaches, services, and mindsets that enable organisations to strengthen their resilience. The findings highlight the crucial role of collaboration exercises in fostering community resilience, with particular emphasis on the design, delivery, and implementation of these activities as key factors for success. This study, based on three published articles and the accompanying cover chapter, proposes a framework for training crisis management systems, addressing the questions of when, how, what, and who to train. By integrating perspectives from systems theory, crisis management, resilience, organisational learning, and innovation, the framework provides a deeper understanding of the dynamics of learning and change within crisis management systems. Understanding how multidisciplinary crisis management systems can effectively leverage the pre-crisis stage to enhance resilience is a matter of significant societal importance.

• Magnusson, Monika; Persson, Erik; Pettersson, John S.; Bellström, Peter; Venemyr, Geir Ove & Bakken, Bjørn T. [Vis alle 8 forfattere av denne artikkelen] (2021). Digitalisering av krisöving. Erfarenheter från CriseIT-prosjekten. Karlstads universitet. ISSN 9789178672394. Fulltekst i vitenarkiv

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