OPENING CEREMONY

 

Hans Adolfsson

Vice-Chancellor, Umeå University

 

 

 

 

 

Micael Säll Lindahl

Head of police, Northern Sweden


 

 

 

 

INVITED SPEAKERS


Rick Sarre

Emeritus Professor Rick Sarre is a former legal practitioner and human rights lawyer from Adelaide, Australia. He was head of the University of South Australia School of Law and Legal Practice for six years and retired as the Dean of the Law School in 2020. He also taught law and criminology in the United States, Hong Kong, and Sweden during his 34 years in the tertiary education sector. He is a Past President of the Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology, and a Fellow of the Society. He was awarded an Honorary Doctorate from Umeå University in 2015. 


Ingrid Nyborg

Ingrid Nyborg began her career working with research and education programs in agriculture and resource management issues in Africa and South Asia. She now specializes in post-conflict and post-crisis development in South Asia, with a focus on Pakistan and Afghanistan. In both countries, she has studied human security, livelihood security, gender and development, exploring how local perceptions of security and development compare with policy narratives. She has also studied humanitarian policy and social vulnerability to climate change in Pakistan, where she has conducted fieldwork in Swat and Sindh, areas hard hit by the 2010 superfloods. In her research, she focuses on participatory methods and co-production of knowledge with communities and other stakeholders as key components in both knowledge production and capacity-building. From 2015-2020 she led the EC Horizon 2020 Research and Innovation Action ‘Community-Based Policing in Post-Conflict Police Reform.’ This was a global study of 12 case countries spanning four continents where she and her team studied examples of alternative, non-militarized forms of policing which focus on trust-building, broader understandings of security and well-being (human security), and the use of ICT. She is currently the Head of the Center for Community-Based Policing and Post-Conflict Police Reform, based at the Department of International Environment and Development Studies, Norwegian University of Life Sciences.

 

Joachim Kersten

Joachim Kersten (Professor, Dr. soz. habil., Dr. soz., M.A.) studied science, history, and politics at the Free University Berlin, McMaster University in Hamilton, Ontario. He holds a doctorate from the University of Tübingen and a post-doctoral degree from the University of Konstanz. He has written numerous books and journal articles on juvenile prison, youth crime, gendered violence, and police accountability/police and minorities. He has taught at the University of Melbourne, Australia (1986-1991), at Rikkyo University in Tokyo, Japan, and at Limburg University in Maaastricht, The Netherlands (1991-1993). From 1994 to 1999 and from 2001 to 2007 he was Professor of sociology at the University of Applied Police Studies in Baden-Württemberg. He also was Professor for German and Political Science at Northwestern University in Evanston, IL/USA. After 2007 he was Professor and Chair at the German Police University in Münster, with guest professorships in Sydney, Australia, Zurich, Switzerland, and Maastricht, The Netherlands. He is currently Senior Research Professor at the Criminology Dept. of the German Police University (DHPOL), a graduate school for German and European police leadership. He is leading an EU FP7 research program on Improving Access to Services for Victims of Domestic Violence by Accelerating Change in Frontline Responder Organisations.

 

Malin Eriksson

Malin Eriksson is a social worker, associate professor in Public Health and professor in Social Work at Umeå university. Her overall research concerns social inequalities in health and life circumstances, social sustainability and social capital. She is conducting research on how social capital could be used as a resource in the planning and design of socially sustainable and health-promoting communities, as well as research on community policing in so called vulnerable areas in Sweden.

 

Volodymyr Tymoshenko

Volodymyr Tymoshenko, Ukrainian law enforcement, statesman, scientist. Professor, PhD in law science, Academic of the Political Science Academy of Ukraine. General. Public official of the 1st rank.

His doctoral research is on the topic of “National and international systems against modern drug-business”.

Professor of the National Defense University of Ukraine and the National Academy of the Security service of Ukraine. Head of the Eurasian Drug policy Institute.

Mr.Tymoshenko was a Head of the State Service on Drug Control in 2010-2014. In 2001-2003 and in 2013 he was a representative to the UN Commission on Narcotic Drugs (CND).

Volodymyr Tymoshenko served at different positions within the Security service of Ukraine (SSU): as the 1st deputy to the Head of Security Service of Ukraine and as a Head of Anti-terroristic center of the SSU; as the 1st deputy to the Chief of the Head Department on anti-corruption and organized crimes; Chief of the Head department on counterintelligence; Chief of the Kyiv oblast SSU department.
 
He was a rector of the National Academy of SSU, and the President’s envoy oversighting work of the SSU. Mr. Tymoshenko also served as an adviser to the Head of the Parliament of Ukraine.
 
General Tymoshenko was awarded with a Honorary Award of the President of Ukraine, Order of Merit, many medals and was honored by the National Science Academy of Ukraine ‘for contribution to science’.

Volodymyr Tymoshenko is an author of many articles and books on criminology, national security and defense, anti-corruption work, money laundry and organized crime, drugs and drug-business, anti-terrorism and war law.

 

Gary Ritchie

Assistant Chief Constable Gary Ritchie is the executive lead for Partnerships, Prevention and Community Wellbeing.

ACC Ritchie’s portfolio consists of the following business areas:

ACC Ritchie joined Strathclyde Police in 1991. He was a Superintendent leading the Local Policing Development and Support team at the inception of Police Scotland.

He was promoted to Chief Superintendent and appointed Divisional Commander of Dumfries and Galloway in 2016. From 2018, he worked in Operational Change and Resilience.

He was appointed ACC in 2019 and in his current role, he is responsible for developing new approaches to working with other public services to achieve better outcomes for communities.

 

Jeff Thompson

Jeff Thompson, Ph.D., is an adjunct associate research scientist in the Department of Psychiatry at Columbia University Medical Center and the New York State Psychiatric Institute. He retired recently after serving more than 20 years as a detective in the New York City Police Department (NYPD) where he was a hostage negotiator and was their first-ever mental health and wellness coordinator.

Dr. Thompson conducts research and trainings on resilience, mental health, leadership, suicide pre/postvention, and crisis communication. His trainings have been provided across the world to members from police agencies including from the Australian Federal Police, FBI, Los Angeles Police Department, New Zealand Police, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Scotland Police, and the Swedish Police Authority.

Dr. Thompson is also an instructor at Lipscomb University in the College of Leadership and Public Service and his work has been published in research journals, books, and other publications such as PsychologyToday.com.  

 

Kristy Docherty

Kristy Docherty is the Director of Public Services at the Edinburgh Futures Institute, a thought-laboratory focused on tackling complex issues by bringing people, organisations and disciplines together. She has a PhD in Collective Leadership and Collaboration and draws from this research and her practice experience to support multidisciplinary and cross-boundary teams who want to work differently and collaborate more effectively. 

With over 20 years' practice experience, spanning the public, private and third sectors she has held senior positions for organisations in the Social Housing, Urban Regeneration and Renewable Energy fields where she has led teams to deliver change and infrastructure projects,  advised organisations on the 'how' of complex collaboration, the process of brokering successful partnerships and understanding the challenges of cross sector engagement, all in pursuit of addressing complex, intractable and 'wicked' issues.  

Kristy is passionate and committed to building system wide connections,  promoting relational approaches to leadership and supporting the collaborative 'group process', across all sectors to promote innovation and change. Prior to her role at the Futures Institute, she was a Lecturer in Leadership and Organisational Behaviour, Associate Director and Public Service Portfolio lead for a Consultancy providing strategic advice on social housing led regeneration, and the Business Director for a large-scale wind, solar and hydro energy developer.

Kristy is currently working with colleagues from Police Scotland and Public Health Scotland to develop a 'Prevention Hub', an innovative ecosystem focused on reducing inequalities through actions to improve health and wellbeing. The Hub will be situated within the Edinburgh Futures Institute.

 

Hans Lindberg

Chairman of the Umeå Municipal Board

 

Greg Neely

Pro Dean of the Faculty of Social Sciences, Umeå University


Paul Johnston

Chief Executive of Public Health Scotland

Paul was appointed Chief Executive of Public Health Scotland in March 2023. Prior to this role, Paul spent eight years as a member of the Executive Team and Corporate Board in the Scottish Government. His responsibilities covered many areas of social policy that impact on health.  He was Director General for Education and Justice between 2015 and 2021. 

Paul became Director General for Communities in 2021 with responsibility for social security, housing, equality, human rights, local government and public service reform.

Paul is a qualified lawyer and joined the Scottish Government in 2000, holding a range of legal and policy roles including a secondment as a Director in the UK Government.

 

Sophia Willander

Vice-chairman, Swedish Police Association

Sophia is Vice-chairman of the Swedish Police Association since 2022.

She became a fully trained police officer in 2004 and during her career worked mostly operational, with patrolling, as a group leader, in dispatch, and as an investigator for a period of time. In 2014 she was elected as the chairman of the Swedish Police Associations southern region and in 2018 to the Police Association's highest board. Today, she works full-time with issues related to the employment of police officers, and their working environment and conditions. She is passionate about developing the police and has the opportunity to make a difference from within the union.

Sophia does not see herself as a counterpart to the employer, but rather as a partner who, with different perspectives, wants to promote the best for police officers and the Police.