BBK was founded in May 2004 as an important contribution of the Federal Government to the new strategy for the protection of the population in Germany. Together with the Federal Agency for Technical Relief (THW), BBK as a supreme federal office within the portfolio of the Federal Ministry of the Interior (BMI) fulfils tasks relating to civil security measures, above all in the sector of civil protection and disaster assistance.
The BBK is a federal competence center for inter-divisional and inter-administration level crisis management both on the operative tactical and on the strategic level. It incorporates all interdisciplinary domains of civil security precaution and combines them into an effective protection system for the population. For example, the BBK is responsible for the conceptual planning and interdisciplinary coordination of the protection of critical infrastructures and the education of executive managers on the higher administrative levels in civil defense.
It supports the BMI in these areas and also, by consent of BMI, the responsible supreme offices. Above all, BBK is responsible for the following tasks:
- Development of a national risk analysis
- Development of standards and framework concepts for civil protection
- Warning and information of the population
- Information of the population about protection and support possibilities
- Education, further education and training of decision makers and managers from the sector of civil security measures
- Technical and scientific research
The high significance of research in the task profile of the BKK is expressed through its own research division and through numerous collaborations with universities. With the journal Civil Security Research (“Zivilschutz-Forschung”) and the publication of other articles the BKK provides an important contribution to the scientific state of the art of civil security.