281 students and teachers from 6 partner Universities from Latvia, Finland, Norway, Spain, Lithuania and the Netherlands took part in the survey about security.

Although Europe in general and partner countries are considered safe places to live, do our students feel safe in their living and studying environment? Do they think that the security situation in the region has grown worse in recent years? Many Universities and training institutions offer security studies or include security related courses in their study programmes. But do we teach security sufficiently to our students?

Those were the questions that six partner universities of ERASMUS+ SECUREU project asked their students and teachers in autumn 2022.
This survey shows that the security perspective is changing all around the world, in Europe and in countries which are traditionally considered as safe places for living as well. The safety feeling among students in their countries is not so high anymore. Respondents mention that they feel insecure because of different reasons – the political situation, war in Ukraine, financial and social instability, cyber-attacks and polarisation in the society. More than half of the respondents (56.8%) feel that the security situation in the region has grown worse during the past year.

Students as well as lecturers strongly agree that Universities should teach more about security! 96% of respondents agree that security studies and more courses should be included in different study programs. This means that Universities should consider the integration of security and risk management related courses in different study programmes and not just those that train and educate young security specialists.
This survey shows that students are convinced – companies do not know how to manage security risks. The main reasons why companies and organisations are not paying sufficient attention to security and risk management are:

98% of the respondents agree that companies should pay more attention to security – now is the time to teach more practical solutions and actions, to teach how to handle such situations! It is important to learn more about security risk management and to motivate employees in companies to asses and monitor security risks.

Full report and data visualization is available here: https://security.turiba.lv/2023/03/09/do-students-feel-safe-and-are-they-interested-in-security-studies/

Project is implemented by 7 partners: Turība University (Latvia), Kazimieras Simonavičius University (Lithuania), Laurea University of Applied Sciences (Finland), Nord University (Norway)
Avans University of Applied Sciences (the Netherlands), Fundació Universitat Autònoma de Barcelona (FUAB) (Spain), Biedrība "Drošības profesionāļu asociācija" (Latvia).

Project is financed by ERASMUS+ programme. Project number: 2021-1-LV01-KA220-HED-000023056.