Workshop: Resilience in Crisis Situations

The approximately 50 participants of the ETH Workshop on “Resilience in Crisis Situations” all agreed that the proliferation of the resilience concept had improved awareness of how crises and disasters can be overcome. The workshop discussed not only goals and types of resilience, but also challenges and opportunities in implementing it in Switzerland.

The first panel, with speakers Susanne Krings of the German Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance and Myriam Dunn of the CSS, debated the foundations of resilience in security policy and Germany’s experiences with the concept. A subsequent panel looked at the sectors requiring protection in Switzerland from a practical perspective. Ruedi Rytz of the Federal Office for National Economic Supply, Hans Rudopf Heinimann, Professor at the ETH Risk Center, Reto Häni of Microsoft Western Europe, and Marc Hechler of the Zurich Cantonal Bank shared their experiences with the audience.

The workshop concluded with a debate on the practical implementation of resilience in Switzerland between Christoph Flury of the Federal Office of Civil Protection, André Duvillard of the Swiss Security Network, and Hanspeter von Flüe, head of Civil Protection of the Canton of Berne.