On November 26, 2024, the KAHR Synthesis and Networking Conference took place between 11:00 and 17:30 at the Rheinforum Wesseling. Under the motto: “Latest findings for climate and flood resilient development in the context of extreme events”, over 180 participants from 96 different institutions from science, politics, administration and the private sector intensively discussed the possibilities and limits of promoting resilience and climate adaptation in reconstruction.
Conclusions from the accompanying research on reconstruction show that strengthening resilience, flood prevention and climate adaptation can succeed if, in addition to repairing the damage, funds are also made available for further adaptation measures and existing opportunities are adequately communicated.
In addition to an overview of the products developed by the KAHR consortium during the project period, the focus was on the exchange with external project representatives and the participants present. The focus here was on specific content-related work in workshop formats. Further challenges and new approaches to solutions as well as open research questions were discussed in thematically interlinked working groups.
In this context, Prof. Stefan Greiving (TU Dortmund University) focused on the topic of protection goals and standards for climate and flood resilient developments. Prof. Bruno Merz (GFZ Potsdam) presented new estimates of risks in extreme scenarios and posed the question of what our society needs to prepare for in the future. Prof. Robert Jüpner (RPTU Kaiserslautern) and other conference participants addressed the question of how to strengthen the links between civil protection, water management and spatial planning in the future. The German Federal Agency for Technical Relief was also involved in this discussion. At another themed table, Prof. Christian Kuhlicke (UFZ Leipzig) posed the question of how the concept of Building Back Better can be further substantiated in practice in Germany. In addition, Dr. Bert Droste-Franke (IQIB) discussed success factors for the transfer of scientific findings into practice.
The event was accompanied by presentations of other projects funded by the Federal Ministry of Education and Research and a panel discussion. State Secretary Dr. Erwin Manz from the Rhineland-Palatinate Ministry for Climate Protection, Environment, Energy and Mobility, Anja Toenneßen, Head of Division at the Ahrweiler District Administration, Matthias Börger, Head of Department at the Ministry for the Environment, Nature Conservation and Transport of the State of North Rhine-Westphalia and the KAHR project spokespersons Prof. Jörn Birkmann from the University of Stuttgart and Prof. Holger Schüttrumpf from RWTH Aachen University took part in the panel discussion.
The synthesis and networking conference also addressed the question of the effects of the scientific research accompanying the KAHR project. Numerous examples - such as the relocation of the Levana School, new standards in bridge construction or the 10 recommendations from a scientific perspective on the topic of reconstruction and sustainability of flood-affected regions - already showed concrete results that are having an impact in the practice of reconstruction.
The feedback from participants was consistently positive - in particular, the opportunities for intensive professional exchange at a broad level were highlighted as very helpful. As heavy rainfall events in the context of climate change are expected to intensify in the future, the establishment of structures for accompanying scientific research will become increasingly important.
Further content on the KAHR synthesis and networking conference will be published shortly on the project website: https://hochwasser-kahr.de/index.php/de