Prospective risk management: a review of German legislation targeting integral flood management

How should legislations be structured to effectively deal with flood risks? This latest working paper reviews the German flood protection guidelines, rules, and norms using local examples for illustration. Flood management in Germany is linked to local and national legislation and trends on the European legislation level. The German flood management can be used as an example for all countries dealing with this risk. The lesson to be learned from this analysis is that in order to efficiently protect terrain and the livelihoods of communities from flooding, all levels of government, from federal to municipal, must adapt their building norms and land use practices, work together and need to follow the same rules.