The RIMMA conference is held the first time in Bern, where we have a long tradition in hazard cartography and in integrated management of natural hazards and risks. Information and warnings are decisive elements in integrated risk management. Warnings increase preparedness and are one of the organizational measures (along with forecasts, and emergency planning) to respond to hazards and risks. (Near-)Real-time data and warnings need to be available, accessible, communicable, and understandable, and must be issued and distributed according to the needs of various target groups. User-centered impact-based warnings aim at complementing meteorological forecasts with impact forecasts. This requires a dedicated collaboration between meteorological services, warning services, and user groups.

Visualization, communication and information management are crucial for effective forecasting, nowcasting, and warning systems and thus are the key to better disaster prevention and management. Cartography, and visualization in general, offers various means for this: Today’s maps are (almost entirely) digital: web-based, interactive, and updated in real-time. However, visualization of spatiotemporal data streams and impact-based warnings do not only comprise maps, but also full Geoinformation-Systems including digital twins and multi-media (text, images, virtual reality, storytelling).

Open questions remain to be discussed and answered regarding user-centered information management, large data processing, visualization, and communication of operational consequences as well as humanitarian and economic impacts of natural hazards, visualization of uncertainties, and other perspectives coming from geovisualization, cognitive visualization, interoperability of systems, standardization of processes, distribution channels of early warnings, and early action.