news

Here you will find news of the HKC and of related subjects of interest

Winter break from 20.12.24 to 07.01.25

The office is taking a winter break and will therefore not be staffed from 19 December 2025 to 11 January 2026.

NRW and the Netherlands Extend Flood Protection Partnership

North Rhine-Westphalia and the Netherlands have extended their cross-border cooperation on flood protection for another six years. NRW Environment Minister Oliver Krischer and Dutch Director-General Jaap Slootmaker signed the agreement at the German-Dutch Flood Protection Conference in Rees.

Review: HWNG workshop "Communicating the impact of flooding"

On 9 October 2025, the Hochwassernotgemeinschaft Rhein e. V. (HWNG Rhein) and cooperation partners such as the Stadtentwässerungsbetriebe Köln (StEB Köln) and the Deutsches Komitee Katastrophenvorsorge (DKKV) held a workshop in Cologne on the topic of "Communicating flood risk – How can
local authorities better raise awareness among those affected?".

Mobildeich receives first VdS certification

Mobildeich GmbH, a member of the Flood Competence Centre (HKC), is the first company to receive certification in accordance with the new VdS guideline 3855. The mobile flood protection element ‘Mobildeich’ performed impressively in realistic tests conducted by VdS and the Institute of Hydraulic Engineering at the Technical University of Hamburg.