Presentation by the Crisis Communication Research Group at the Climate Protection Conference of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities

The 15th Climate Protection Conference of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities on May 10, 2023 in the Science Center Bonn was held under the motto "Municipalities active for climate protection"

At the 15th Climate Protection Conference of the German Association of Towns and Municipalities (DStGB), Prof. Martin Löffelholz, Director of the International Research Group Crisis Communication at the Technical University of Ilmenau, spoke about the situation and perspectives of governmental risk and crisis communication on May 10, 2023 at the Science Center Bonn.

At this year's climate protection conference, the DStGB emphasized the special role of municipalities in climate protection and in adapting to the consequences of climate change. In addition to proposals for the use of renewable energies, urban development funding or sustainable urban mobility concepts, the more than 300 participants discussed the reorientation of civil protection in times of climate change.

In his keynote, Ralph Tiesler, President of the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance, explained the goals and structure of the newly established Joint Competence Center for Civil Protection (GeKoB). Based on the initial findings of a representative survey of German municipal administrations and public health departments, Prof. Löffelholz then described the challenges and prospects of municipal risk and crisis communication.

In the study, which was funded by the German Federal Ministry of Education and Research for a period of three years, the Crisis Communication Research Group surveyed representatives of administrative districts, independent cities and municipal health offices to determine which communicative challenges municipal institutions were confronted with during the Corona pandemic, which communication strategies were used and which suggestions for optimization resulted from the survey.

In addition to Prof. Löffelholz, Kathrin Schleicher and Johanna Radechovsky from the Department of Media Studies are involved in the study. The research team will present detailed results at the annual conference of the German Society for Journalism and Communication Studies in Bremen at the end of May 2023 and at the symposium of the Crisis Communication Division of the European Communication Research and Education Association in Gothenburg in early October 2023.