Schon vor dem heutigen Event-Tag gab es ein Pre-Event, deshalb lohnt ein Blick zurück – um dann in die Zukunft zu schauen. Denn im Pre-Event mit dem Titel „Förderung des europäischen Austauschs: Transformationen hin zu einer nachhaltigen und resilienten Zukunft“ ging es ganz um den Wissensaustausch hin zu einer nachhaltigeren Zukunft. Heute geht es mit der Fachtagung weiter, mit zwei Tagen voller Wissensaustausch und neuen Ideen, um die Katastrophenvorsorge noch effizienter und näher an den Menschen zu gestalten.

Dr. Diana Mantel

“Flood disasters and hydro-meteorological events are getting more severe all over Europe and as we all know natural hazards do not respect borders, so the necessity of collaboration becomes more and more obvious each time transnational risk turns into disaster”, told Ronja Winkhardt-Enz (host). In response to the recent flood events in Europe, this event discussed how to achieve transformations towards a resilient and sustainable future.

Panelists Reimund Schwarze (Deutsche Komitee Katastrophenvorsorge/DKKV), Myriam Merad (Association Française pour la Prévention des Catastrophes Naturelles/AFPCN) and René Kastner (Disaster Competence Network Austria/DCNA) presented experiences, lessons learned and lessons to learn from recent disasters in their respective countries. They said that there are already platforms working for DRR and resilience and events like these promote European exchange - but also that there is still much to do. The pre-event made clear how important European exchange and cooperation is, therefore we need more:

• Learning with and from each other
• More cooperation in the field of research and initiatives for DRR and Resilience
• Organisations like DKKV, AFPCN and DCNA should be included in shaping European DRR policy

About 70 participants attended the event and the discussion afterwards was very enriching. The panelists offered to compile a synopsis in which unanswered questions will be answered.

Ronja Winkhardt-Enz