**5. Conclusions**

In this study, a tentative model for the development of a learning process of the organizations' exercise organizers during a set of collaboration meetings and full-scale exercises was developed, which was illustrated through the cycle of expansive learning. Through a combination of collaboration meetings and full-scale exercises, the exercise organizers were able to iteratively question and analyze the current practice of the rescue operation; to develop, test, and implement new practices and tools; to reflect on the process; and to consolidate the new practice. During the learning process, several of the steps of the cycle of expansive learning were revisited. Thus, the iterative combination of collaboration meetings and full-scale exercises led to sustainable organizational change. The strength of the combination of collaboration meetings and full-scale exercises was that the exercise organizers learned to visualize and take the other organizations' perspectives. The iterative process in which the lessons learned from one full-scale exercise were implemented during the next also meant that the exercise organizers did not have to start from the beginning each time they planned a new full-scale exercise, which in itself reduces the costs and time of full-scale exercise planning. Thus, the use of a combination of collaboration meetings and full-scale exercises with the steps of the cycle of expansive learning in mind could well be utilized in the learning process of exercise organizers as they develop their rescue operation practice. More research is needed to determine if this is an e fficient way of developing the learning of exercise organizers in order to develop both the full-scale exercise practice and their organizational preparedness.

**Author Contributions:** Conceptualization, S.K., B.-I.S., M.H., A.E., and L.G.; methodology, S.K., B.-I.S., M.H., A.E., and L.G.; validation, S.K., B-I.S., M.H., A.E., and L.G.; formal analysis, S.K.; investigation, S.K., B.-I.S., and L.G.; resources, S.K., B.-I.S., and L.G.; data curation, S.K.; writing—original draft preparation, S.K.; writing—review and editing, S.K.; visualization, S.K. and M.H.; supervision, B.-I.S., M.H., A.E., and L.G.; project administration, S.K., B.-I.S., M.H., A.E., and L.G.; funding acquisition, B.-I.S. All authors have read and agreed to the published version of the manuscript.

**Funding:** Support for this project was received from the Swedish National Board of Health and Welfare along with the European Regional Development Fund under the Safety & Security Test Arena Project.

**Acknowledgments:** The authors would like to express their appreciation to all exercise organizers of this study as well as all the participants of the full-scale exercises and the funders of the research.

**Conflicts of Interest:** The authors declare no conflict of interest. The funders had no role in the design of the study; in the collection, analyses, or interpretation of data; in the writing of the manuscript, or in the decision to publish the results.
