Symposium History

The history of this symposium series began in the early 1980s, when Johan Santesson, a scientist at FOA, initiated the first international symposium on protection against chemical warfare agents. The first symposium took place in Stockholm at ABF-huset in Stockholm on 6-9 June 1983, bringing together 312 participants from 20 different counties. The main topics were detection, decontamination, medical protection, body protection and collective protection. From the outset, the symposia were jointly organised by various Swedish agencies.

The second international symposium on protection against chemical warfare agents was also held in Stockholm, at the Folkets hus Congress Centre in June 1986. The main topics were body and respiratory protection, decontamination and detection. Medical protection also formed a major part of the symposium. The third symposium took place in Umeå, in the northern Sweden, and was opened by his Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf. The fourth symposium returned to Stockholm in 1992 and was held at Norra Latin, with an opening address by the Minister of Defence Anders Björck.

For the fifth symposium, biological warfare agents were added to both the title and the programme. The fifth international symposium on protection against chemical and biological warfare agents was held in Stockholm in 1995, once again at Norra Latin, with the then Minister of Defence, Thage G. Peterson. The sixth and seventh BC protection symposia both took place in Stockholm, in 1998 and 2001, respectively. His Majesty King Carl XVI Gustaf once again delivered the opening address in 1998, while Swedish Minister of Defence Björn von Sydow delivered the opening address in 2001.

The eighth international symposium on protection against chemical and biological warfare agents was held in Gothenburg in 2004 and was once again opened by His Majesty the King together with HRH The Crown Princess. The ninth symposium was also held in Gothenburg, with an opening address from the Swedish Ministry for Foreign Affairs.

The tenth symposium returned to the Swedish capital, Stockholm, in 2010. The eleventh and twelfth symposia were also held in Stockholm. In the 2013, the opening address was delivered for the first time by the Director-General of the OPCW, Ahmet Üzümcü. In 2016, the opening address was delivered by Minister for Foreign Affairs Margot Wallström.

In 2019, the symposium broadened its focus for the first time to encompass protection across the entire CBRNe field, becoming the thirteenth CBRNe Protection Symposium. It was held in Malmö, which also hosted the fourteenth CBRNe Protection Symposium in 2022 and the fifteenth in 2025.