Brief biography of partner
The Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance (BBK) was established on May 1, 2004, within the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI). As Germany’s central authority for civil protection, BBK plays a crucial role in strengthening the country’s resilience to crises and disasters. It serves as a strategic coordination body, ensuring effective cooperation between federal, state, and international partners in civil defence, protection and disaster management.
In the field of civil protection in times of war, BBK is in particular responsible for carrying out the tasks of the federal government laid out in the federal law for civil defence and disaster assistance. They include complementing civil protection capabilities of the federal states, promoting self-protection measures, ensuring warning of the population, maintenance of protective shelters, regulating large scale evacuations, measures to protect the health of the population and measures to protect cultural property and assets.
BBK is tasked with the coordination of Germanys crisis management structures on a national and international level in civil protection. The latter includes Germanys involvement in UCPM-measures through its Joint Information and Situation Centre (GMLZ) which acts as the NCP to the UCPM.
Regarding preparedness, a fundamental pillar of BBK’s work is the training and professional development of emergency responders and civil protection personnel. The Federal Academy for Civil Protection and Civil Defence (BABZ) offers specialized courses for national and international organizations, enhancing capacities in disaster preparedness and response.
On the international level, BBK actively engages in disaster risk reduction and crisis response. It coordinates capacity-building projects, participates in emergency operations, and supports the development of common European standards in civil protection. Since 2017, BBK has also served as Germany’s National Focal Point (NFP) for the Disaster Resilience Strategy and the Sendai Framework for Disaster Risk Reduction.
A key development in European cooperation is the establishment of the EU Competence Centre within BBK’s international division. This centre serves as a central coordination and cooperation platform for Germany’s engagement in the Union Civil Protection Mechanism (UCPM). BBK plays a crucial role in enhancing Germany’s civil defence capabilities, ensuring a coordinated, cross-border approach to crisis management, and reinforcing Europe’s overall disaster resilience.
Role in the project
Within the project, BBK is helping to integrate the special characteristics of a federally organised civil protection system with an integrated emergency response and disaster relief system. To this end, together with other partners, command and control structures are analysed at various levels, technical and operational practices (SOPs) of emergency capacities are examined and experiences from previous activations of the UCPM are evaluated. Furthermore, BBK ensures the participation of experts and stakeholder from different levels of government in workshops and exercises and intends to support the integration of the results of the project into national and international training and exercise programmes.
BBK will contribute to several work packages (WP 1, WP 3, WP 4, WP 5, WP 6, WP 7 and WP 8) and its tasks. BBK leads the task 5.5 “Integration of DARE results into Training Programmes”.