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ClimateCafé:

ClimateCafé is a multi-, trans-, interdisciplinary and international event of several days in which young professionals, stakeholders and scientist come together to collect data and design (potential) solutions for climate change adaptation in rural or urban areas. ClimateCafé mainly aims to enhance resilience and reduce vulnerability of communities by sharing knowledge, raising awareness and building capacity. ClimateCafé addresses global issues, such as climate change and sustainable development, on a local scale. In a ClimateCafé, context specific challenges, related to climate change and sustainable development, are proposed by local stakeholders and often relate to a specific problem area. Over the past decade, more than 28 ClimateCafés have been organised around the globe, including the Netherlands-Rotterdam, Sweden-Malmö, the Philippines-Manila, and Peru-Pirua. Since the first edition in Thailand (2012), ClimateCafé evolved in content and adopted a ‘learning by doing’ paradigm. Our results indicate ClimateCafé fosters integrated thinking across disciplines, cultures and knowledge sectors while reducing uncertainties affiliated with climate change adaptation. This is demonstrated by participants of previous ClimateCafés having various backgrounds including: law, civil engineering, water management, art, urban planning and environmental engineering. Furthermore, co-production is composed through workshops facilitated by stakeholders of the, so called, quadruple helix including academia, government, civic society and industry. Workshops make use of scientifically embedded methods, always related to the contextual challenge. For example, urban heat stress is measured by sensors on a bike and collecting urban green with online platform ClimateScan, community perceptions are collected through interviews, water quality is measured with the use of drones and perceptions and responsibilities of institutional actors are identified by interviews and field visits. Additionally, data is processed and design workshops facilitate integrated design of potential solutions which is disseminated through participants presenting their findings at conferences. Although ClimateCafé is resource intensive, requires active participation of stakeholders and currently mainly attracts students of affiliated universities, we argue this multi-, inter-, transdisciplinary and international knowledge exchange methodology fosters the innovation that is dearly needed to address global sustainability challenges and climate change adaptation.

The relevance of Climate adaptation platforms for floating urbanisation and nature-based solutions.

There is a clear demand for a collaborative knowledge-sharing on climate adaptation and mitigation. The aim of most climate adaptation platforms is (inter)national knowledge exchange and raising awareness about climate adaptation in urban areas and promote solutions such as Nature-based solutions (NBS) and floating infrastructure. However their multiple benefits are often unknown to the wider public. During seminars (February 2020) in Indonesia climate adaptation measures where mapped and the relevance of the climate adaption platforms such as ClimateScan was evaluated by the means of workshops and a survey. The platform ClimateScan holds now over 5000 locations in 5 main categories of climate adaptation (water, nature, agriculture, energy and people). The conclusions from the workshops in Semarang and Surabaya show high relevance scores for NBS: permeable pavement and swales; for infiltration of stormwater to groundwater; for mitigation of high temperatures with heat stress measures; and flood barriers to mitigate flooding. There were low scores for floating urbanization because this is not a culturally accepted practice in contradiction to other parts of the world. Indonesian floating infrastructure as a floating library, restaurant and airport terminal where mapped during workshops bringing the total of international floating structure locations to 150. The workshops have raised awareness among participants and contributed to capacity building by empowering the participants to map and review climate adaptation measures. A high majority see the value of climate adaptation platforms and will use it in the future.

Floating Future: Participatory Climate Café’s for raising awareness and climate action in the Netherlands

The consequences of climate change are increasingly noticeable, and visible, in the Netherlands. Subsidence in the provinces of Groningen, Friesland, North- and South-Holland, and the impending threat of sea level rise, will have far-reaching, and often negative effects on present liveability, food supply, the economy, and human health. This requires the development of amphibious and floating living concepts that provide resilient sustainable solutions to future challenges. However, the lack in integration between spatial planning, knowledge development and knowledge sharing, create significant barriers, hampering widespread acceptance and implementation of alternative approaches. There is also a lack of awareness among politicians and citizens about the accelerating rate of change facing humankind. This study investigates the significance of ClimateCafé’s as a knowledge sharing approach, ultimately fostering stakeholder engagement and collaborative problem-solving. The approach included the analysis of the structure, content, outcomes and tangible outputs of various Climate Cafe’s. These events were chosen based on their focus on the Floating Future research project, and included diverse stakeholders, including policy-makers, spatial planners, government agencies, academics, local citizens and scientists. Results indicate that, since ClimateCafé’s require active participation of stakeholders, it facilitates effective knowledge exchange, capacity building and stimulates integrated thinking across multiple disciplines.

Potentials and pitfalls of mapping nature-based solutions with the online citizen science platform ClimateScan

Online knowledge-sharing platforms could potentially contribute to an accelerated climate adaptation by promoting more green and blue spaces in urban areas. The implementation of small-scale nature-based solutions (NBS) such as bio(swales), green roofs, and green walls requires the involvement and enthusiasm of multiple stakeholders. This paper discusses how online citizen science platforms can stimulate stakeholder engagement and promote NBS, which is illustrated with the case of ClimateScan. Three main concerns related to online platforms are addressed: the period of relevance of the platform, the lack of knowledge about the inclusiveness and characteristics of the contributors, and the ability of sustaining a well-functioning community with limited resources. ClimateScan has adopted a “bottom–up” approach in which users have much freedom to create and update content. Within six years, this has resulted in an illustrated map with over 5000 NBS projects around the globe and an average of more than 100 visitors a day. However, points of concern are identified regarding the data quality and the aspect of community-building. Although the numbers of users are rising, only a few users have remained involved. Learning from these remaining top users and their motivations, we draw general lessons and make suggestions for stimulating long-term engagement on online knowledge-sharing platforms

Klimaatadaptatie evalueren met participatief leren: ClimateCafé Malmö

In de wijk Augustenborg in Malmö zijn sinds de jaren ’90 met de bewoners veel klimaatadaptie- en leefbaarheidselementen aangelegd. Maar functioneert de wijk nog naar tevredenheid en wat valt ervan te leren? In een ClimateCafé is (het functioneren van) klimaatadaptieve maatregelen vastgelegd en gepresenteerd op het eindcongres van vier internationale projecten.

ClimateCafé Peru