The City of Riihimäki participates in the Regional State Administrative Agency of Southern Finland's Southeastern 25 readiness exercise

The Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland is organizing the Southeastern25 preparedness exercise in its operational area. Nearly 1000 people from approximately 130 organizations from the entire area of ​​the Regional State Administrative Agency for Southern Finland are participating in the regional preparedness exercise. In addition to the city of Riihimäki, the exercise also includes welfare areas, regional security actors and numerous municipalities from the Kanta-Häme, South Karelia and Kymenlaakso regions.

The exercise will culminate in a training phase on 3–4 September 2025, where participants will be able to practice situation management in a simulated civil protection situation. Kaakko25 will be carried out simultaneously with the Karelian Brigade's Karelian Stronghold local defense exercise 2/25.

Exercises develop the readiness of organizations

The Regional State Administrative Agency organizes emergency drills annually for representatives of municipalities, welfare areas, rescue services and other authorities in the region. In the emergency drills, municipalities, authorities, organizations, regional actors and the business community are offered the opportunity to practice and develop their own preparedness for disruptions during normal times and exceptional circumstances. The drills are part of the authorities' preparedness to promote overall security, ensuring the operating conditions of society both in disruptions during normal times and in exceptional circumstances.

The aim is to develop the participating organisations' own operational readiness, in particular cooperation, situational awareness and civil protection readiness. The scenario of the exercise is a tense international situation, which leads to a deterioration in the security situation of society, disruption of critical infrastructure and an increase in the threat of the use of military force. The theme of the exercise is very topical, and based on preliminary feedback, it has been felt to be very necessary.

Participating organizations practice collaboration

During the Kaakko25 exercise, various workshops, planning meetings and information sessions have already been organised between March and June, where exercise scenarios have been planned, the roles and responsibilities of participating organisations in disruption situations have been reviewed, preliminary tasks have been completed and the use of the virtual exercise platform has been familiarised. The exercise will pilot a geographic information system for the first time in the formation of organisations' own and regional situational awareness. Approximately 40 organisations are participating in the pilot.

"Organizing regional preparedness exercises is a statutory task of regional administrative authorities. In addition, we use them to carry out our second task of coordinating regional preparedness," says Chief Rescue Inspector Markku Hutka from the Regional State Administrative Agency of Southern Finland, who is responsible for organizing the exercise.

The theme of the exercise is the preparation of authorities, municipalities and other regional actors for imaginary exceptional circumstances and a civil protection situation. The training phase of the preparedness exercise will be organized in early September as a situation-based leadership exercise. The preparedness exercise will not be visible on the street.