Goals and areas of expertise
The Center for Interdisciplinary Disaster Research is a consortium of research groups in the field of disaster research at RPTU Kaiserslautern-Landau. Its goal is to harness the potential of interdisciplinary research at the intersection of technology, business, and education. Our specific expertise covers the following areas:
- Education in Civil Protection
- Disaster Management
- Resilience in Flood Risk Management
Latest news
Ready for an Emergency: RPTU Supports DIE's Theme Week on Disaster Preparedness
Issue 1/2026 of *weiter bilden* was published to coincide with the theme week . THE magazine for adult education, focusing on“Disaster Preparedness,”has been published. Matthias Rohs served as co-editor. In the introductory piece, he shows that preparedness involves more than just stockpiling supplies: it’s also about knowledge and routines, as well as the shared responsibility of the government and the public. For the“Horizont”section, Rohs spoke with Thor Rutgersson about how Sweden’s folkbildning contributes to civil crisis preparedness and where gaps still exist. With its concept of total defense, Sweden serves as a point of reference for the German debate.
In her main article,Sophie Lacher-May explains why disaster preparedness is a task for publicly funded adult education. She draws on findings from the PREP project at RPTU. According to these findings, only a minority of the population has so far engaged in preparedness. About one-third have neither emergency supplies nor relevant skills. At the same time, about 80% express interest in educational programs. Her conclusion: Information alone does not create the ability to act.
The RPTU was also featured in a discussion. In Episode 36 of the wb-web podcast“potenziaLLL,”Rohs speaks about disaster preparedness as an educational task. On October 12, he was also a guest on the online discussion“Disaster Preparedness—Prepared for an Emergency,”organized by “weiter bilden” in collaboration with the State Association of Adult Education Centers in North Rhine-Westphalia.
Links
- Theme Week: https://www.die-bonn.de/de/institut/veranstaltungen/veranstaltungsreihen/die-themenwoche/
- weiter bilden 1/2026: https://weiter-bilden.de/de/disaster-preparedness/
- Interview with Thor Rutgersson: https://weiter-bilden.de/de/disaster-preparedness/interviews/folkbildning-and-civil-preparedness-in-sweden/
- Article by Lacher-May: https://weiter-bilden.de/de/disaster-preparedness/hauptbeitraege/disaster-preparedness-als-aufgabe-oeffentlich-gefoerderter-erwachsenenbildung/
- Podcast: https://wb-web.de/aktuelles/36-folge-potenzialll-katastrophenvorsorge-als-aufgabe-der-erwachsenen-und-weiterbildung.html
Cooperations
Science
- Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands)
- Free University of Berlin
- Geo Research Center Potsdam
- Indiana University Purdue University Indianapolis, (United States)
- Leuphana University of Lüneburg
- Medical School Hamburg
- Free University of Berlin
- Berlin University of Technology
- Norwegian University of Science and Technology (Norway)
- Mines Tech, Paris (France)
- RWTH Aachen University
- Berlin University of Technology
- Braunschweig University of Technology
- Dortmund University of Technology
- Dresden University of Technology
- Munich University of Technology
- Umeå University (Sweden)
- Environmental Research Center Leipzig
- University of Hamburg
- Universitae Politehnica Timisoara (Romania)
- Universidad Nacional de Educación a Distancia (Spain)
- Université de Lorraine (France)
- University College London (Great Britain)
- University of Namibia (Namibia)
- University of Queensland (Australia)
- University of Tokyo (Japan)
- Warwick Business School (Great Britain)
- et al.
Practice
- Professional fire departments Kaiserslautern, Magdeburg, Neuwied and others
- Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance
- Deutsche Bahn InfraGO
- German Association for Water, Wastewater and Waste (DWA)
- Emschergenossenschaft/Lippeverband
- Düsseldorf Fire Brigade
- Hamburg Fire Brigade
- Flood Competence Center Cologne
- Saxony-Anhalt State Office for Flood Protection and Water Management (LHW)
- Technical Relief Organization, SEEBA, local associations Sinzig, Euskirchen, Achim and others
- West Palatinate Clinic Kaiserslautern
- and others