Welcome

"The European Congress and Civil Protection and Disaster Management is a place to meet and for discussion. Hence the conference initiates discussions and creates new ideas for the national, European and international stage. Therefore the congress represents the decisive notion of disaster management: Solidarity.

Kristalina Georgieva, Commissioner for International Cooperation, Humanitarian Aid and Crisis Response, European Commission was the political patron of this year’s conference.

"As a program partner we were able to present our results in the field national and international civil protection. The booklet on “Climate Change – Challenges for Civil Protection” and the panel discussion on energy supply were only two of many projects presented. The cooperation between the different relief organizations and the fire fighters was an enrichment of the program of the conference.  It was my pleasure to welcome again the Federal Ministry for Education and Research and to welcome Kristalina Georgieva for the second time since both symbolize innovation and internationalization of civil protection. My personal favorite was to float 30 meters over the ground with Mrs. Georgieva – thanks to the Fire Brigade of Bonn. 

Christoph Unger, President of the Federal Office for Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK)

"The European Congress on Civil Protection and Disaster Management brings together the acting stakeholder of Germany, Europe and the entire globe. The most important feature of disaster management is networking between the active actors. This conference is a good opportunity for networking, furthermore a change for exchange of experience, strategy and vision.

Albrecht Broemme, President Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW)

The German Red Cross happily accompanied the 7th European Congress on Civil Protection and Disaster Management. We involved in fruitful discussions, presentations and the exhibition. For the Red Cross it was very important to communicate the strategy of complex relief systems which is based on the integrative approach of different competences. This point of view is applicable to the cross-linking of national, European and international actors and highly coherent to the conference motivations. We were really happy to present Commissioner Georgieva  our security research program Alert4All which orientates according to this year’s title Human-Technology Interaction on a population friendly method to alert the civilians in case of disaster.

Tina Weber, Head of Security Research Programm, German Red Cross (DRK)