Newsblog

Only three days left until the application deadline: The German Committee for Disaster Risk Reduction (DKKV) is once again inviting entries for its 2026 promotional award for outstanding Bachelor’s and Master’s theses in the field of disaster prevention and disaster risk management. The award recognises, in particular, innovative and practice-oriented theses, including those relating to […]

Extreme weather events and geological hazards are increasingly posing a challenge to democratic processes. The new report “Managing natural hazards and climate risks in elections” by the International Institute for Democracy and Electoral Assistance (IDEA) analyses over 100 cases from 2006 to 2025 in which elections were disrupted by events such as storms, floods, heatwaves […]

The scientific collection “Water extremes: innovative approaches to managing floods and droughts” in the journals Natural Hazards and Earth System Sciences (NHESS) and Hydrology and Earth System Sciences (HESS) focuses on innovative approaches and methods for dealing with hydrological extreme events such as floods, heavy rainfall and drought. The collection is part of the WaX […]

In the latest issue of the “Disasters Avoided Newsletter”, the Disasters Avoided initiative highlights a key factor for effective disaster prevention: the right mindset. Over the coming months, the newsletter series will examine the six core components of the model developed, which aims not only to manage disasters but to actively prevent them. The model […]

In the face of increasing heatwaves and new temperature records, Japan is breaking new ground in climate communication. A recent study by the University of New South Wales shows how language, perception and public engagement are being specifically used to raise awareness of climate risks and encourage action. Japan already has an established classification system […]

The European Commission has published the latest INFORM Risk Index, which assesses the risk of crises and disasters worldwide. The index combines data on hazard, vulnerability and lack of response capacity, thereby providing a comparable basis for assessing risks at country and regional level. The aim of the INFORM Index is to support decision-makers in […]

As part of the EU-funded Erasmus Plus project RESILIENT VOICES, two new surveys on disaster preparedness have been launched. The aim is to gain a better understanding of how different population groups perceive risks such as storms, floods or heatwaves, and what support they need before, during and after crises. The surveys are being conducted […]

The latest report from the EM-DAT database on global disasters indicates that the scale of damage caused by natural hazards will remain high in 2025. A total of 358 disaster events were recorded, resulting in 16,607 deaths, affecting around 110 million people and causing economic losses of approximately 169.7 billion US dollars. Asia was particularly […]

A research team led by the University of Canterbury has developed an AI-based system that can predict wildfire risks significantly faster and more accurately than existing methods. The system uses machine learning to analyse weather data and identify patterns that typically occur before fires ignite. In contrast to many current warning systems that update only […]