Natural hazard conference 2024 in Tulln

From 4 to 7 November, the Natural Hazards Conference 2024 took place in Tulln (Lower Austria) with around 130 experts from emergency services, municipalities, regions, provinces, the federal government, business and science.

The "Natural Hazards in Climate Change Award 2024", which was presented during the conference, went to a joint project of the regions KLAR! Bucklige Welt - Wechselland, KLAR! Climate-Fit Upper Feistritz Valley, KLAR! Recreation Region Joglland and KLAR! Dechantskirchen & Vorau.

The natural hazard conference at the Fire and Safety Centre (FSZ) in Tulln, Lower Austria, focused on the risk of forest fires and the experiences of the heavy rainfall and flooding event in September 2024 were also a topic. In addition, the Lower Austrian State Fire Brigade Association demonstrated practical examples of vegetation firefighting at the training centre's training grounds.

The 2024 Natural Hazards Conference was organised by the Austrian Platform for the Implementation of the United Nations Sendai Framework Convention on Disaster Risk Reduction (ASDR), GeoSphere Austria, the Province of Lower Austria, the Natural Disaster Prevention Centre, the Climate and Energy Fund and the Disaster Competence Network Austria (DCNA).

"Close cooperation between all those involved in the topic is extremely important for optimising the protection of the population against natural hazards. This applies to disaster management directly in the crisis as well as the long-term planning of protective measures," says Andreas Schaffhauser, Scientific Director General of GeoSphere Austria, "meteorological analyses and data from emergency response organisations show an increase in damaging natural events, which is largely due to the changing climate. We need to prepare for the new challenges at all levels."

Dietmar Fahrafellner, Provincial Fire Service Commander of Lower Austria:

"Fighting forest fires is a top priority for us in Lower Austria and is a fundamental part of our disaster management. As one of the pioneers in Austria, we began systematically preparing for the increasing risk of forest fires years ago. To this end, we set up our own special service with over 600 specially trained firefighters, which is specifically dedicated to fighting vegetation fires and is designed to deal with this particular challenge.

We have also invested in specially developed, state-of-the-art equipment that prepares us for the increasingly difficult conditions and increases the efficiency and safety of our emergency services. These measures enable us to respond quickly and effectively to fires and at the same time gain experience, which we pass on in dialogue with experts from various fields.

The 2024 Natural Hazards Conference was a valuable opportunity to further intensify the exchange of experience and present innovative approaches to fighting forest fires. Only through the close cooperation of all participating institutions and organisations can we ensure the safety of the population from natural hazards in the long term."

The "Natural Hazards in Climate Change Award 2024" was also presented in Tulln. The award went to the four KLAR! managers Anja Wutte, Helmut Wagner, Markus Plank and Rainer Leitner for their cross-province tandem project ‘Climate change-related forest fire prevention and control in Jogl- and Wechselland’ with the KLAR! regions "Dechantskirchen & Vorau", "Bucklige Welt-Wechselland", "Klimaffites Oberes Feistritztal" and "Erholungsregion Joglland". The project involved a total of 108 municipalities and 212 fire brigades as well as other blue-light organisations, forest owners and the Austrian Armed Forces in developing a cross-district and cross-province deployment map for fighting forest fires - by practitioners for real-life use. This innovative approach won the public vote and shows that networking and co-operation are a success factor for adapting to climate change. Bernd Vogl, Managing Director of the Climate and Energy Fund: "My heartfelt congratulations go to the Power Team from Lower Austria and Styria. With their project, they have not only succeeded in carrying out professional adaptation work across state borders, but also in initiating a flagship project that can also be applied in other federal states."

KLAR! is a funding programme of the Climate and Energy Fund. The aim of the programme is to give regions and municipalities the opportunity to prepare for climate change and to minimise the negative consequences of climate change through adaptation measures.

The finalists also included the KLAR! Region Natur- und Geopark Steirische Eisenwurzen with the project "Forest fire risk in the Styrian Eisenwurzen - measures briefly outlined!" and the KLAR! Tiebeltal and Wimitzerberge with the project "Forest fire prevention in theory and practice for the (youth) fire brigades of the Feldkirchen district".

"The intensive discussions have shown how important it is for all organisations affected by natural hazards to exchange ideas. We are delighted about the great interest in a continuation and will soon be fixing the date and location for the 2025 Natural Hazards Conference," says Matthias Themeßl from GeoSphere Austria, organiser of the event.

Translated with DeepL.com (free version)