From February 5 to 7, 2025, the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) will host the second Fachkongres “Forschung für den Bevölkerungsschutz” (Research for Civil Protection congress) at the World Conference Center Bonn (WCCB). Three applications from emergenCITY scientists were successful. Their contributions have now been included in the program.

The specialist congress sees itself as a forum for scientific exchange on topics relating to civil protection and civil defense across disciplines. The first event of its kind in 2023 brought together 500 scientists from social sciences, medicine, environmental sciences, geography, political science, media studies, computer science and rescue engineering in Bonn.

Historical studies on civil protection, smart homes and extreme weather events

2025 will also feature three presentations by emergenCITY scientists. Joachim Schulze, research associate in the Department of Design and Urban Development, and Nadja Thiessen, research associate in the Department of Modern and Contemporary History, both at TU Darmstadt, will give a presentation on February 5 on historical studies on civil protection. Their topic: “Social vulnerability as an indicator of the population’s resilience to crises - an investigation using the example of Darmstadt’s urban districts over a period of 60 years”.

Markus Henkel, research associate at the chair of Science and Technology for Peace and Security (PEASEC) and Frank Hessel, research associate in the Secure Mobile Networking Lab at TU Darmstadt, will present “Smart Homes as an addition to the warning tool mix”, also on February 5. For example, emergenCITY’s smart home “eHUB”, which is located on the Lichtwiese campus, is researching how messages from civil protection can be received and forwarded.

In addition, emergenCITY employee Nadja Thiessen and Leonie Reuter from Freie Universität Berlin will speak on extreme weather events on February 6. The title of their presentation is “Historical research on dealing with water-related risks in Berlin: upheavals and path dependencies since the 19th century”.

Registration for guests for the event is possible until January 7, 2025 at www.fkfb.de. The conference will be held exclusively in German.