The Program is subject to change without notice.

We’re excited to host you in the foyer of UniS, Schanzeneckstrasse 1, 3012 Bern—just a quick 5-minute walk from Bern’s central station.

When you arrive, head to the registration desk in the foyer to pick up your lanyard. You’ll also find a supervised cloakroom there to store your belongings and safely enjoy the event.

Press conference

Opening Session

The speech will mainly concentrate on three parts: the introduction of the situation of disaster emergencymapping, the current research hotspots and the development trends of cartography for emergency and disaster management.

From Meteorological Forecasts to Impact-Based Warnings: Challenges and Interdisciplinary Synergies (organized by young researchers and dedicated to young researchers)

Further sessions:

• Session II: Wednesday, 29 January 2025, from 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm, Lecture Hall S003
  
• Session II: Wednesday, 29 January 2025, from 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm, Lecture Hall S003
  

National, cross-border, international, and global actions in all phases of disaster management are in due need of technical, organizational, and legal standards that allow for the required cross-organizational and cross-cultural harmonization.

While first international regulations on transnational information flow and processes have already been implemented successfully (transnationally, European, globally) in other domains for years (Environment, Geoinformation, etc.) and furthermore, overarching regulations already have been decided upon (European Data Act, Interoperable Europe Act etc.), implementation in the RISK domains still lack the concepts of how to approach the associated complexity, encourage and promote the elaboration of lighthouse realizations, discuss and make available suitable Testbeds, and mobilize the adequate workforce to achieve Facet Components that support data, information and workflow in predefined achievable timeframes.

This side event allows international experts to exchange their experiences and opinions. RIMMA2025 Participants who are less experienced but interested in the Digital Future of RISK Information Management are also welcome to join.

This session focuses on remote sensing applications for disaster risk management and rapid mapping of natural hazard events.

Session II will take place on Thursday, 30 January 2025, from 9:30 am to 10:30 am in room A022.

The talk will give an overview of the MedEWSa project, which is a 3-year Horizon Europe project started in November 2023 led by the Justus Liebig University of Giessen with 29 partners from academia, research institutions, national meteorological and hydrological services, ECMWF, Red Cross, WMO, SMEs, first responders, civil protections, NGOs, local & regional governments, crisis planners as well as lighthouse stakeholders including UNEP, UNEP-MAP, UNDP, African Union and more.

Katrin Schneeberger

Director of the Federal Office for the Environment,

Chair of the Steering Committee on Intervention in Natural Hazards

Effective Communication and Visualization of Natural Hazard Warnings, Including Communication of Uncertainties

Session II will take place on Wednesday, 29 January 2025, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm, Lecture Hall S003.

A growing number and spectrum of European cross-border exercises are devoted to special aspects of first-aid training. In addition, Cross-Border interaction also implies finding solutions to cross-border Information Interoperability and legal and administrative obstacles. This RIMMA2025 session presents results of cross-border situations in various facets of the complex RISKs topics domains.

Session II will take place on Wednesday, 29 January 2025 from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm, Room A-122.

Each poster will be presented in a 2-minute session to the entire audience, with presentations proceeding sequentially. Authors will be available at their posters after the presentations to address questions and facilitate discussions.

Session II will take place on Wednesday, 29 January 2025, from 2:00 pm to 3:00 pm in Room A022.                             

Session I will take place on Wednesday, 29 January 2025, from 9:30 am to 10:30 am in Room A-122.

Each poster will be presented in a 2-minute session to the entire audience, with presentations proceeding sequentially. Authors will be available at their posters after the presentations to address questions and facilitate discussions.

From Meteorological Forecasts to Impact-Based Warnings: Challenges and Interdisciplinary Synergies (organized by young researchers and dedicated to young researchers)

Further Sessions will be:

• Session I: Tuesday, 28 January 2025, from 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm, Lecture Hall S003
  
• Session III: Wednesday, 29 January 2025, from 4:00 pm - 5:00 pm, Lecture Hall S003
  

Session I will take place on Wednesday, 29 January 2025, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm in Room A022.     

Session II will take place on Wednesday, 29 January 2025, from 4:00 pm to 5:00 pm in room A-126.

Part II of the Workshop will take place on Wednesday, 29 January 2025, from 3:45 pm to 5 pm in Room A-119.

Please register for this workshop by writing an email to astrid.bjoernsen@wsl.ch

• Chair/Rapporteur: Astrid Björnsen, Federal Research Institute WSL, Switzerland
• Co-Chair/Discussant: Matthias Röthlisberger, Mobiliar Versicherungen, Switzerland
• Discussant: Stefan Rimkus, SCOR, Switzerland
• Discussant: Jurgena Kamberaj, Center for Security Studies ETH, Switzerland
• Discussant: Stefan Brem, FOCP/BABS, Switzerland
• Discussant: Fabia Hüsler, FOEN/BAFU, Switzerland
• Discussant: André Baur, FOCP/BABS, Switzerland
• Discussant: Michael Rüegger, SCOR, Switzerland

Prof. Peter Moser (FHGR/ZWF)

Prof. Raimund Schwarze (DKKV)

Corine Singeisen (PS/VKG)

Part I of the Workshop will take place on Wednesday, 29 January 2025, from 2:00 pm to 3:15 pm, in Room A-119.

Please register for this workshop by writing an email to astrid.bjoernsen@wsl.ch

• Chair/Rapporteur: Astrid Björnsen, Federal Research Institute WSL, Switzerland
• Co-Chair/Discussant: Matthias Röthlisberger, Mobiliar Versicherungen, Switzerland
• Discussant: Stefan Rimkus, SCOR, Switzerland
• Discussant: Jurgena Kamberaj, Center for Security Studies ETH, Switzerland
• Discussant: Stefan Brem, FOCP/BABS, Switzerland
• Discussant: Fabia Hüsler, FOEN/BAFU, Switzerland
• Discussant: André Baur, FOCP/BABS, Switzerland
• Discussant: Michael Rüegger, SCOR, Switzerland

From Meteorological Forecasts to Impact-Based Warnings: Challenges and Interdisciplinary Synergies (organized by young researchers and dedicated to young researchers)

Further Sessions will be:

• Session I: Tuesday, 28 January 2025, from 3:00 pm - 4:00 pm, Lecture Hall S003
  
• Session II: Wednesday, 29 January 2025, from 2:00 pm - 3:00 pm, Lecture Hall S003
  

Session I will take place on Wednesday, 29 January 2025, from 1:45 pm to 3:00 pm in room A-126.

Thomas Röösli (MeteoSwiss, Weather4UN Project)

Isabelle Bey (Head of the Western Regional Center of the Federal Office of Meteorology and Climatology MeteoSwiss)

Alicia Pache (Weather4UN Project Coordinator, MeteoSwiss)

Located next to the iconic Bear Park, Altes Tramdepot is the venue for the RIMMA2025 conference dinner. This historic brewery restaurant offers a unique dining experience with freshly brewed craft beers and a diverse menu of Swiss and international dishes. Guests can enjoy a warm, rustic atmosphere and stunning views of Bern’s Old Town and the Aare River. A perfect spot for our special evening, the Altes Tramdepot promises a memorable experience for conference attendees and visitors alike.

Georg Gartner (TU Vienna, ICA President), 

This session focuses on remote sensing applications for disaster risk management and rapid mapping of natural hazard events.

Session I will take place on Tuesday, 28 January 2025, from 3:00 pm to 4:30 pm in room A022.

Session II will take place on Thursday, 30. January 2025, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm in room A-126.

Session II will take place on Thursday, 30 January 2025, from 11:00 am to 12:30 pm in room A-122.

Chairs:

• Pascal Horton, Mobiliar Lab of Natural Risks, Oeschger Center for Climate Research, University of Bern, Switzerland
• Olivia Martius, Mobiliar Lab of Natural Risks, Oeschger Center for Cliamte Research, Universtiy of Bern
• Noelia Felipe, Frauenhofer HHI, Germany
• Vitus Benson, Max-Planck Insitute, Germany

Both sessions will cover visualization and extended (i.e., virtual, augmented or mixed) reality-related research and applications about conference themes (i.e., these presentations and discussions will be directed at work that intersects the common phases of crisis management) and specifically touch upon user-centred technologies (user experience, empirical studies) as well as the latest technology and science breakthroughs in the automation of visualization and 3D modelling and other related processes through, e.g., generative AI and other solutions.

Presentations

Eva Mätzler, Jona Peters, and Alexander Gamble: 'Landslide And Tsunami Monitoring In Remote Arctic Environment - Challenges And Possibilities'

Raphael Mayoraz and Martin Proksch: 'Risk Management in Switzerland and Greenland'

Anna Scolobig and Markus Stoffel: ‘ Acceptable for whom? Addressing social conflicts in integrated disaster risk management’

Panel discussion:

Risk at the centre of the discussion: acceptable risk, risk perception and acceptance, effect of climate change on risk perception; challenges with EWS and communication in the Alps and in the Arctic, similarities, differences

Moderation of panel discussion: Gabriel Chevalier

Experts:

Eva Mätzler from the Ministry of Industry, Trade, Mineral Resources, Justice and Gender Equality of the Government of Greenland

Aske Wied Madsen from the Department for Contingency Management of the Government of Greenland

Hugo Raetzo from the Federal Office for the Environment of Switzerland

Raphael Mayoraz from the Natural Hazards Service (SDANA), Canton Valais, Switzerland

Martin Proksch from the Integrated Risk Management Support Section (AGIR), Canton Valais, Switzerland

Markus Stoffel from the University of Geneva, Switzerland

Anna Scolobig from the University of Geneva, Switzerland

Session I will take place on Thursday, 30 January 2025, from 9:30 am to 10:30 am in room A-126.

Session I will take place on Thursday, 30 January 2025, from 9:30 am to 10:30 am in room A-122.

Program ML & Forecasting II

1. Presentations

2. Interactive Game: Forecasting rare events with generative human AI
It is 11:45 am in Bern, Switzerland, and the International Committee on Unforeseen Risks is about to convene. Their latest session intends to prepare humanity for what is yet to come. RIMMA, the generative AI system built to forecast catastrophic outcomes, is opening the meeting with its latest assessment report. "Preparedness is key to mitigating the impacts of rare but catastrophic events. Here is a list of the top 10 unforeseen catastropheeeees that atataatat….“. What happened? A power outage struck the building, and now the committee is left to resort to their human intelligence to prepare a list they can present to the head of state within 45 minutes.

We all become imagineers in this slot and play a collaborative game to forecast rare events! Join us for an interactive activity that will query your creativity and spark a discussion on using AI systems for forecasting extreme events. After a brief introduction, we will play the game (no prerequisites required), stimulating our discussion on machine learning in early warning systems.

3. Wrap-Up discussion: Opportunities & Risks of ML for Early Warning Systems

The session will conclude with a 15-minute discussion on the opportunities and risks of ML for early warning systems.

Invited experts:

• Magnus Heitzler, Heitzler Geoinformatik, Germany

• Maaz Sheikh, Ageospatial, Switzerland

• Jan Svoboda, SLF Davos, Switzerland

• Yizi Chen, ETH Zurich, Switzerland

Speakers:

• Annika Fröwies (University of Vienna, Austria)
• Aleksandar Jovanovic(Steinbeis European Risk & Resilience Institute, Germany)
• Orsolya Székely and Zoltán Székely (3T-IM Innovation Machine GmbH, Hungary)
• Olga Vybornova (UCLouvain-CTMA, Belgium)
• Georgios Sakkas (Center For Security Studies [KEMEA], Greece)

This session covers presentations on the topic of weather forecasts for health management

Open to the public

This keynote will explore how scientific data, like weather and climate forecasts, can trigger early humanitarian interventions. We'll look at real-world examples where the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (UN OCHA) has used these triggers in Africa and Asia, discussing how reliable science can help decide when and where to act. We'll also address challenges in scaling this approach, such as the need for strong partnerships and accurate data.This talk will encourage collaboration between scientists and humanitarian workers to refine these methods, ensuring that future actions are both reactive and anticipatory

 Change in timetable!

- Only available for registered participants

The Oeschger Centre for Climate Change Research and the International Foundation of High Altitude Research Station are organising a post-conference scientific excursion to the Jungfraujoch Research Station for the RIMMA 2025 conference participants. The visit to the research station in Grindelwald, in the Bernese Alps, Switzerland, will include a guided tour through the research station at 3’572 meters asl and a presentation of the topical research projects.

• 7.04 AM Departure from Bern main station
• 10.30 – 12.30 AM Guided tour
• 12.30 AM – 2.00 PM Lunch / free time
• 2.00 – 3.00 PM Guided tour
• 03.17 PM Departure at Jungfraujoch
• 06.56 PM Arrival at Bern main station

Chang in timetable!
Only available for registered participants
A special guided tour will be offered to the conference audience, as well as topics. We will visit the Federal Office of Topography swisstopo in Wabern, near Bern.

8:30 AM Meeting at main entrance of swisstopo, Federal Office of Topography swisstopo, Seftigenstrasse 264, 3084 Wabern