© Christiane Stephan/GIUB

Risk and Security 

Risk and Security brings together research at the Department of Geography that explores risk, security, and how people and environments experience and respond to hazards. This page introduces the research focus area, highlights the participating research groups, presents ongoing and completed projects, and provides contact information for further exchange and collaboration. 

What is studied in the research focus area Risk and Security? 

The research focus on Risk and Security is concerned with holistic approaches to risk, interrelated facets of security and critical interrogations of the politics and geographies of (in)security and securitisation. It explores the interplay of hazards, vulnerabilities and exposures in different geographical and socio-cultural contexts as well as the uneven landscapes and experiences of (in)security that result from unequal global-local relations of power. Research in this focus area deals with concepts and solution-orientated aspects of disaster risk reduction, water security, and human security using a sound and complementary mix of quantitative and qualitative methods. 

In a world of increasing cascading and systemic risks, aspects of prevention and adapting human security are of particular importance in this challenging and dynamic research focus and are therefore an integral part of our Master's programmes. The research focus also develops critical perspectives on security discourses and policies, considering how the latter impact on and intersect with the experiences and agencies of everyday actors in diverse contexts.

Current research is focusing, for example, on floods (magnitudes, recurrence intervals, designation of floodplains, management strategies), droughts, landslides or permafrost degradation, as well as on social requirements for risk management in spatial planning, associated health risks and pandemics or food security issues. Further topics include migration, militarisation, emotional geographies of security and insecurity, and violence. The research focus Risk and Security contributes to the Transdisciplinary Research Areas Sustainable Futures (TRA6) and Individuals, Institutions and Societies (TRA4) of the University of Bonn. 

Involved research groups 

Research Focus Area: Risk and Security
© Bosse u. Meinhard (modified)

Current projects on Risk and Security 

Contact

Avatar Schrott

Prof. Dr. Lothar Schrott

Website

+49 228 73-5394

0.028 (153)

Meckenheimer Allee 166

53115 Bonn

© Friederike Pauk/GIUB
Avatar Hörschelmann

Prof. Dr. Kathrin Hörschelmann

Website

+49 228 73-5061

1.004 (213)

Meckenheimer Allee 166

53115 Bonn

© Friederike Pauk/GIUB