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M. Baierl:
"Communication Management in Water Risk and Crisis Situations";
Betreuer/in(nen): N. Kreuzinger; Institut für Wassergüte, Ressourcenmanagement und Abfallwirtschaft, ETIA, 2013; Abschlussprüfung: 06/2013.

In case of water risk and crisis incidents, communication needs to be taken up within a short time in order to achieve maximum effectiveness and sustainability.
This mainly means conserving the reputation of and perception towards the organisation as well as satisfying stakeholder needs and interests in the short and long run.
The risk and crisis situation, its management and stakeholders´ role within the communication process influence stakeholders´ decision-making before, during and after an incident. Moreover, stakeholder perception, attitudes and behaviour in relation to risks and crises are dependent on psychological, cultural and sociocultural factors. Thus, details on stakeholders, mainly gathered in the risk management and communication process can be used as vital information for
planning and implementing a risk and crisis communication concept.
Despite the knowledge on the presence of risks and possible crises, there is a lack of preparation for emergency situations. This thesis investigates the psychological and strategic aspects of communicating to stakeholders and outlines the experience and knowledge on the risk management and crisis communication process,necessary for organisations´ communication. It visualises the organisational and
operational procedure of risk and crisis communication. Structured in accordance with the risk management process, the thesis aims at developing a demonstrative risk and crisis communication framework in order to apply it on a hypothetical case study of ground water contamination.
Consequently, this thesis serves as a starting point to develop risk and crisis communication frameworks and could encourage the active implementation of such concepts within organisations.

risk, crisis, communication, stakeholder, water