All kind of reports point into the direction of an increasing number of natural disasters world-wide. The protection of the people and mitigation against the consequences of such events should be started without delay.
Japan has been hit by an especially damaging disaster in March 2011, which revealed the vulnerability of an industrialized society and its infrastructure, but also showed a remarkable reaction of the disaster reaction forces, like the fire departments or the self-defence forces. Given the above mentioned overall trend to more and stronger natural hazards an exchange of experiences and research results in disaster management and civil protection is desirable.

Although Germany is not subject to such strong earthquakes and tsunami, disaster mitigation still is a topic, for instance in research. There are many research projects that investigate crisis related communication and procedures in order to enhance operations.
The symposium will be a platform for the exchange of experiences and the presentation of innovative research in Japan and Germany.