Megatrends and earthquake resilience in the focus of the Civil Protection Conference

The Civil Protection Conference 2025 (BSK25) organized by the Federal Office for Civil Protection (FOCP) took place in the Volkshaus in Biel/Bienne. The event serves not only to impart knowledge on a specific topic, but also to promote networking among the participants, who are mainly civil protection actors (police, fire department, emergency medical services, technical services and civil defense).

The BSK25 began with welcoming addresses from Martin Pfister, Federal Councillor and Head of the Federal Department of Defense, Civil Protection and Sport (DDPS), and Philippe Müller, Member of the Cantonal Government and Director of Security of the Canton of Bern. In his speech, Federal Councillor Martin Pfister noted that in times of a rapidly deteriorating security policy situation, civil protection in Switzerland remains a central element of our security architecture and our protection system.

The first conference presentations were dedicated to megatrends, their relevance for civil protection and their impact on risk management, and included an overview of earthquake preparedness in Switzerland. The response of the federal government and the cantons to an earthquake was also the subject of a presentation.

The risk of earthquakes was chosen as one of the two central topics of the conference because this natural disaster requires civil protection organizations to deploy most of the skills they need to cope with major events and because its damage potential is particularly high.

Robotics for locating earthquake victims

The topic was explored in greater depth in further presentations. Big data and AI tools can be used to identify imminent earthquakes in advance, enabling early warning. Another megatrend, robotics, can in turn help to locate victims and people trapped in rubble, while digitalization can contribute to a better assessment of the condition of buildings after an earthquake.

Towards the end of the conference, the analysis of extensive anonymized cell phone data was discussed. This would make it possible to better understand the behavior of the population affected by a disaster and improve their protection. However, before such a tool can be introduced, the high data protection requirements need to be overcome. In the second-last conference presentation, a project was presented that aims to increase the population's ability to cope with crises by strengthening social and individual resilience. The topic of the last presentation was the coordination of international aid.

Following the presentations, participants had the opportunity to network over a small aperitif: If the key players already know each other, a crisis can be managed more effectively. In her closing remarks, Michaela Schärer, Director of the FOCP, emphasized the importance of good cooperation between the various partners, particularly between the federal government and the cantons, so that innovations can be implemented quickly for the benefit of civil protection.

Source: babs.admin.ch