From information to action: standardising and harmonising warnings and hazard maps in Germany’s natural hazards portal (Naturgefahrenportal, NGP) for effective public communication

Germany faces a wide range of natural hazards. Responsibility for issuing warnings is spread across various federal and state authorities. These authorities typically operate their own information portals, publishing only their respective warnings. From the perspective of the general public, this fragmented approach may be confusing and hinder the public’s ability to gain a comprehensive understanding of current hazards. The German Natural Hazards Portal (Naturgefahrenportal, NGP) aims to address this gap by providing all necessary information in a unified and accessible way to help people prepare for, respond to, and mitigate the impact of natural hazards. To achieve this, it is essential to standardise and harmonise information across all participating authorities, i.e. harmonisation of warning levels, terminology, and colour codes. This is particularly important because different providers may use varying visualisations, which can appear inconsistent to the general public. The overarching aim is to ensure that the public can easily understand the information and act quickly and accurately. This paper presents the conceptual and technical foundations of the current public version of the NGP and offers guidance for future developments in standardised hazard and risk communication.