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Parliamentary evening at the end of the exhibition “#Krisenalltag – Kommunikation in der Pandemie”
18/2023, 13.10.2023
Joint press release by the BfR, the BBK, and the DKKV on the occasion of the International Day for Disaster Reduction on 13 October 2023
How can we communicate effectively in times of crisis? This was the topic of a parliamentary evening jointly organised by the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK), the Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) and the German Committee for Disaster Reduction (DKKV) on 12 October 2023, the eve of the International Day for Disaster Reduction in Berlin. The final weekend of the exhibition “#Krisenalltag – Kommunikation in der Pandemie” (Everyday Crisis – communication during the pandemic) at the Museum for Communication in Berlin was the perfect setting for this event.
In addition to visiting the exhibition, the guests from politics, administration, science, and civil protection were able to experience the challenges of risk and crisis communication in an interactive simulation game involving a fictitious winter storm. During the evening, researchers presented the initial results of the extensive MIRKKOMM project, which also forms the core of the exhibition. MIRKKOMM is an association of researchers from communication and media science as well as law experts who are investigating knowledge transformation and multi-modal risk and crisis communication using the COVID-19 pandemic as an example.
At the parliamentary evening, Professor Dr Andreas Hensel, President of the BfR emphasised that “The COVID-19 pandemic has shown the importance of clear and understandable risk and crisis communication. With the lessons learned from the research project, communication strategies and messages can be made even clearer, more effective, and more efficient in future crises”.
BBK President Ralph Tiesler added: “The question of how we can communicate effectively in a crisis touches on the question of crisis management itself. We need to involve the people we are communicating to even more so that they do not feel like they are at the mercy of crises but rather that they are capable of action. The MIRKKOMM project provides important insights into how risk and crisis communication can be improved in this sense”.
Leon Eckert, Member of the Bundestag and Chair of the German Committee for Disaster Reduction explains: “The general population itself is the most important actor in crisis management. Our task is to prepare the people in Germany for possible crises with good communication strategies. That’s why it is important that we shed light on crisis communication, adapt it to current developments, and thus structurally improve it”.
More information on the MIRKKOMM project
BfR-press release 13/2023 on the opening of the exhibition:
https://www.bfr.bund.de/en/press_information/2023/13/krisenalltag___ kommunikation_in__der_pandemie__exhibition_opens-311933.html
About the BfR
The German Federal Institute for Risk Assessment (BfR) is a scientifically independent institution within the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of Food and Agriculture (BMEL) in Germany. The BfR advises the Federal Government and the States (‘Laender’) on questions of food, chemicals and product safety.
The BfR conducts independent research on topics that are closely linked to its assessment tasks.
Names of external partners:
Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK)
German Committee for Disaster Reduction (DKKV)
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