About the Conference
The European Congress on Civil Protection and Disaster Management is a common initiative of the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) the Federal Technical Relief Agency (THW) and the newspaper Behörden Spiegel (Administration Mirror). Since the conference has been established in 2005, national and European topics become discussed in a main programme and various panel sessions.
2005 has been the first year of the conference and was opened by Otto Schily, at that time Federal Minister of the Interior of Germany. The topic of the conference – according to the Tsunami-Disaster in Asia – was “Early Warning – Alerting – Coordination. More than 500 visitors from 19 nations joined this first conference. 2006 ”Security at large Events – Lessons learned in Preparedness and Handling” was the focus of the 2nd Congress, held in the year of the FIFA World championship in Germany. Most of the participating institutions and authorities supported this conference and shared their experiences with more than 900 attendees in Bonn. 2007 was the first year with more than 1.000 visitors. This third congress already became a fixed date for European disaster management authorities. In order to the conferences European focus, “European Strategies and Perspectives for Civil Protection” was discussed at this 3rd conference. Embedded into this headline, additional topics like the protection of critical infrastructures or the impacts of the climatic change for civil protection were debated. 2008 European initiatives were in the focus again. “Civil Protection in Europe: Information – Coordination – Operation” became discussed in a main programme of two days and at all ten specialized panel sessions. It worked out that Europe is on its way to generate its own capabilities in Civil Protection and Disaster Management. With 1.370 visitors from 53 nations – among others with representatives from Russia, India or Romania – this 4th Congress was the most successful one. 2009 the conference will put its focus on new ideas and technologies for Civil Protection in and around Europe. An innovative and highranked main programme points out the latest developments for all related authorities. Speakers from all over the world will grant a successful meeting in 2009.
The conference in 2008:
- 1.372 visitors from 53 nations, including 13 Ministers and State Secretaries
- Two days main programme with high-ranking experts
- Ten Panel Sessions with additional topics
- Exhibition inside and outside the conference hall with more than 40 companies
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The Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) was established on 1st May 2004 within the remit of the Federal Ministry of the Interior. Germany now has a central organisational element working to ensure the safety of the population, combining and providing all relevant tasks and information in a single place. |
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Whether young or old – 80,000 people are convinced that it's a good idea to spend some of their free time offering technical assistance to others, wherever they may be in the world. The THW has shown its competences around the world since 1950. |
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The Behörden Spiegel (Administration Mirror) is Germanys leading publication for authorites since 25 years. In its monthly issues the paper informs about the latest topics from all kinds of authorities, the internal security and civil protection authorities. |
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The German Fire Brigades support this conference and are with more than 1 Million members the largest union of volunteers in Germany. |
