CCH - Congress Center Hamburg - News
Climate change is a global challenge, and cannot be mastered without intensive international
exchange, overall concepts and joint action. acqua alta brings academics, business experts,
politicians and representatives of cities and countries from all over Europe to Hamburg from 10 to
12 November 2009, to present and discuss the latest insights, strategies and projects at the
international conference on climate consequences and flood protection. The accompanying
exhibition enables exhibitors to present their specific products and services. acqua alta 2009 is
supported by the Federal Environment Ministry and the Federal Ministry of Transport, Building and
Urban Affairs.
acqua alta is the only conference and exhibition event in the world that focuses not only on expert
exchange on the issues of climate change and climate action, but also on climate impact in terms
of flooding and disasters. The organiser is Hamburg Messe und Conference GmbH (HMC), which
acquired the rights to this conference and exhibition from ConTrac GmbH (Berlin) in 2008, and has
brought it permanently to Hamburg. “With its focus on flood protection, acqua alta is exactly right
for Hamburg,” explains Bernd Aufderheide, CEO of HMC, “because that is a major issue here – we
are so close to the North Sea and right by the River Elbe”.
The broad range of subjects covered at acqua alta 2009 makes it the world’s most important
meeting point for discussion of climate consequences and flood protection. It will include two new
keynote areas in 2009, that is hydro-power and water resources management. Another major goal
of the event is to bring together research & development and services, and to promote knowledge
transfer. acqua alta thus gives government, academia, administrations and the business
community the ideal platform for exchanges on the latest issues and projects.
The conference features eminent speakers from the various flood regions of Europe, and from the
areas of environment, disaster management and water resources management. Water
management is a new key issue included in the range of subjects – it deals with basic supply to the
population in the event of sudden disasters and droughts, and also with water protection and
irrigation and drainage systems. Hydro-power is likewise a new subject, dealing with the different
aspects and concepts in the use of water power. For organisation of the contents, HMC continues
to work with ConTrac, and has the advice of an eminent scientific council advisory board. The
International Association of Hydraulic Engineering and Research (IAHR), one of the partners of
acqua alta, is also organising a symposium at the conference on the impact of climate change on
international hydrology, and will present its latest findings in Hamburg. Other partners, alongside
the two Federal Ministries, are local community associations, universities, institutes and industry
associations.
The key issues of the conference are also reflected at the acqua alta exhibition, held at the
exhibition hall of CCH-Conference Center Hamburg. Specialist companies will showcase their
innovative products, technologies and services in the relevant areas, ranging from flood defence
systems to forecasting systems and measuring devices, and also geotechnology and disaster
management equipment.
acqua alta – 4th International Conference and Exhibition on Climate Consequences and Flood
Protection – will be held at CCH-Conference Center Hamburg from 10 to 12 November 2009. It
brings together the keynote issues of climate consequences, flood protection, disaster
management and water management, and gives all the participating organisations, research
institutes, local community associations and industries a platform for technical exchange and the
development of joint strategies to deal with this global community task. Further information on the
Conference and Exhibition and on early-bird discounts is given at the website www.aqua-alta.de