The dynamics of hazards in alpine regions are undergoing fundamental changes – due, among other things, to progressive climate change and correspondingly rising temperatures, the thawing of permafrost, the retreat of glaciers, and altered precipitation patterns. This was one of the key takeaways from the DRR lunch talk on February 25, 2026, which focused on avalanche and glacier hazards and brought together researchers, disaster relief experts, and other interested parties from across Europe for an insightful discussion.

The two keynote speakers, Andrea Fischer (Institute for Interdisciplinary Mountain Research, Austrian Academy of Sciences (ÖAW)) and Jan-Thomas Fischer (Department of Natural Hazards, Austrian Research Centre for Forests (BFW)), addressed several topics, including:

• Risk assessment under changing baseline conditions
• The limits of current models in unprecedented extreme events
• Monitoring strategies for detecting rapid transitions
• Strengthening collaboration between research, monitoring institutions, and public authorities

Many thanks to our speakers and the moderators from the DCNA working group on mass movements (Christian Zangerl, University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences Vienna, and Barbara Schneider-Muntau, University of Innsbruck) for their valuable contributions. We thank all participants for their interest and the engaging discussion!

If you missed the live session or would like to watch the webinar again, you can find the recording here.

The DRR roundtable series strengthens European exchange on disaster preparedness and resilience, and is organized jointly with the Association française pour la prévention des catastrophes naturelles et technologiques (AFPCNT, France), the National Platform Natural Hazards (PLANAT, Switzerland) and the German Committee for Disaster Prevention (DKKV).