German Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction

Engage – Learn – Connect

 “From Climate Change to Crisis: Integrating Disaster Preparedness and Climate Action” was the title of this year’s symposium on March 26 and 27 at the Tagungswerk Berlin, as well as online.

DKKV once again actively participated in the conference this year. On the first day, the session “Extreme Weather Events – Harnessing Synergies to Foster Disaster Preparedness trough a Network of Networks” took place, in which representatives of the AFPCNT and the DCNA participated alongside the DKKV. The discussion focused on strengthening the networking of national platforms in order to share knowledge, data and best practices across borders. Current projects such as AHEAD and experiences from Germany, Austria and France were used to discuss how more effective cooperation between science, civil society and authorities can contribute to strengthening crisis management and prevention.

The workshop “Child- and youth-specific risk communication on climate-related natural hazards” took place on the second day of the conference. Prof. Dr. Frauke Kraas presented the MYrisk project, which focuses on the risk awareness of children in Myanmar. The DKKV and Angelika Schweimnitz then presented the Pixi knowledge book from the WaX project on heavy rain and drought. In the discussion, the challenges of creating children’s books on complex topics, such as cultural adaptation and understandable language, were discussed. Finally, the findings on age-appropriate risk communication were summarized on a concept board.

The DKKV Promotional Award 2024 was also presented, supported by DRF Luftrettung. Two outstanding research projects on disaster prevention were honored, with a focus on innovative approaches to strengthening resilience to disasters. Congratulations to Leonie Eberhardt (Bachelor) and Paula Gnielinski (Master).

“On the Edge? Disaster risk reduction in uncertain times”. This was the title of this year’s Disaster Risk Reduction Conference, which took place from April 22 to 23, 2024 at the Tagungswerk Berlin and online.

Among other things, the DKKV contributed with its panel discussion: “State of the nation – Challenges and perspectives of DRR and prevention in selected European countries”, in which representatives of the organizations French Association for Disaster Risk Reduction – Nature and Technology (AFPCNT), the Disaster Competence Network Austria (DCNA), the German Committee for Disaster Reduction (DKKV) and the National Platform for Natural Hazards (Planat) from Switzerland exchanged views on how cooperation and knowledge exchange between European countries can be strengthened with regard to disaster risk reduction (DRR) and prevention. The audience was also repeatedly involved through short exchange and networking formats.

In another panel discussion, DKKV Chairman Leon Eckert and DKKV Board Member Martin Voss took to the stage and took part in an all-round survey of disaster and crisis management in which they discussed whether civil protection is at its limit – the answers from the panel participants ranged from “civil protection is nowhere near its limit” to “civil protection has been at its limit for a long time”.

The German Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction 2023 consisted of three preparatory workshops for next year’s conference held on 22nd and 23rd of April.

DKKV helped organize two of these workshops:

Workshop “Resilience in Germany – Today and Tomorrow”

Organized by DKKV and NKS a Future Literacy Workshop took place at the DKKV office in October. The day started with online lectures by the DKKV on the current state of the INCREASE project and limits of resilience measurement. NKS presented the current status of the implementation of the Sendai Framework in Germany.

In the afternoon 20 disaster risk reduction stakeholders asked themselves “How do we live resilience in 2045?”. The participants discussed where we currently stand with the implementation of the Sendai Framework and together took a look into the future of our lives as well as the future of resilience development. The aim was to formulate probable, desirable and alternative futures in order to understand individual and collective assumptions about the future.

The workshop was developed and organised by ma ma Interactive System Design.

Workshop “Sharing practice: disaster relief and management abroad and at home”

The workshop on disaster relief and management abroad and at home, organized by DKKV and ADH was held at the start of November and began with hybrid keynote lectures by ASB, DKH-RWL, and KFS.

This was followed by a series of workshops for the guests present, consisting of 5 different tables and two rounds in which the participants exchanged ideas, analysed the current status, shared practical experiences and identified needs for exchange and next steps. The topics dealt with: the coordination of higher-level structures, cooperation with spontaneous aid initiatives, needs assessment, community-based disaster risk reduction and the inclusion of vulnerable groups.

Workshop “Risk culture in different countries: How can we learn from each other to reach a more positive risk culture?”

With panelists from Indonesia, Canada, France and Germany, this workshop presented and compared international perspectives on risk culture and initiated mutual learning. Risk culture encompasses the way societies and groups perceive and deal with risks. Risk culture differs from region to region and from country to country. Therefore, this exchange of ideas could help to better understand one’s own risk culture and to learn from each other in order to achieve a progressive risk culture that promotes prevention, as risks can be actively addressed. An important component of this is risk communication, which plays a central role in risk perception and can strengthen a positive risk culture.

The speakers first presented the respective risk culture in their country and then went into lessons learned and best practice examples. After the four input presentations, the panel analyzed and discussed together with the audience how risk culture can be strengthened in the respective countries, but also locally and internationally, and at the same time how these impulses can be used for resilience in society as a whole.

The workshop was organized by the French Association for Disaster Risk Reduction – Natural and Technological (AFPCNT) and DKKV, which have an ongoing collaboration and have carried out joint initiatives to advance various cooperation activities and exchange of best practices among their members as part of the civil society structures of their respective national disaster risk reduction (DRR) platforms.

Workshop “Resilience of Critical Infrastructures – Challenges and Approaches to Digitalization”

Critical infrastructures (CRITIS) have been increasingly affected by attacks and failures in the recent past, and the resilience of CRITIS has become the focus of public attention more than ever before.

As part of the German Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, DKKV organized a workshop on CRITIS “Resilience of Critical Infrastructures – Challenges and Solutions of Digitalization”, as it did last year. The workshop was moderated by Dr. Benni Thiebes and featured three keynote presentations highlighting different theoretical and practical aspects of the resilience of digital critical infrastructures. The more digital our society becomes, the more important it is that digital infrastructures become resilient – because they are exposed to attacks. The presentations presented the conceptual foundations of digital CRITIS resilience and created awareness of risks, needs and challenges through practical examples.

In the presentations and the subsequent discussion, it became clear that the resilience of CRITIS requires long-term planning. In addition to technical measures, however, activities that also play a central role in other areas of disaster risk management are particularly necessary, such as improved communication and training measures, an increased exchange between stakeholders and a positive dealing with mistakes.

Workshop “Digital and Critical Infrastructures”

The German Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction, on October 19 and 20, 2020, was organized as an online event by the German Red Cross, supported by Katastrophennetz e.V., the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) and the German Committee for Disaster Risk Reduction e.V. (DKKV), and sponsored by the German Federal Foreign Office. Through lectures, workshops, panels, interviews and chats, participants were able to actively learn about national and international disaster preparedness, this year under the overarching theme of early warning. Among other things, DKKV participated in the conference with a workshop on digital and critical infrastructures.

Our society is becoming increasingly digital and thus more dependent on resilient digital infrastructures. Overall, this also increases the requirements for data and failure safety of IT systems and the critical infrastructures coupled with them. The workshop was introduced by 3 presentations on different aspects of resilience of digital Critical Infrastructures and their importance for societal life as well as the requirements of the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction 2015-2030. The presentations and the practical examples described within the aim to create awareness for risks, needs and challenges of digital Critical Infrastructures. In addition, solutions and recommendations for action were presented and discussed with the workshop participants.