On November 28, 2025, a field trip to the Ahr Valley took place as part of the 20th anniversary of the Forum for Urban Future in Southeast Asia. The anniversary of the network was organized by Prof. Dr. Frauke Kraas at the University of Cologne and provided an opportunity to combine international expertise with local experience in disaster management.
The excursion, which was organized and conducted in collaboration with Dr. Rainer Bell from the University of Bonn, was aimed at a group of 30 colleagues from eight different countries in Southeast Asia. As the participants’ work mainly focuses on urban issues, the visit to the Ahr Valley provided valuable opportunities for international exchange.
In terms of content, the tour focused on reconstructing the sequence of events of the devastating flood disaster. The complex challenges of immediate crisis management and current strategies for resilient reconstruction were discussed on site.
A central goal of the event was knowledge transfer: the main focus was on analyzing the lessons learned from the events in the Ahr Valley and finding ways to transfer these insights to other vulnerable areas, including in Asia.
(Image source: Frauke Kraas)