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Flood and heatstress models and the need for (sub-) surface INnovations for eXtreme Climatic EventS (INXCES)

Multi-Level Climate Effect Modeling, best management practices From private property to national level

The changing climate has an effect on the quality of life in our cities: heavier rainfall (resulting infloodings), longer periods of drought, reduced air and water quality and increasing temperatures incities (heat stress). Awareness about these changes among various stakeholders is of greatimportance. Every Dutch region is required to perform a stresstest indicating the effects of climatechange (o.a. flooding and heatstress) before 2020. The level of execution, area size and level ofparticipation of stakeholders, has intentionally been made flexible.To provide more insight into the approaches and best management practices to climate resilience,this article provides 3 examples of stresstests performed on several levels: single object real estatelevel, city level and national district level. The method ‘stresstestíng’, involves flood and heatstressmodeling, defines the current status of climate adaptation characteristics of an object, city or district.The stresstest form the base line and starting point for the national 3 step approach adaptationstrategy ‘analyse, ambition and action’.The 3 pilots have been evaluated as ‘successful’ by stakeholders and yielded a significant amount ofvaluable information, further improvement is recommended as increasing the participation of theprivate sector, in a ‘quadruple helix approach’. The learning points from these 3 examples ofstresstests will subsequently be implemented in the form of improved stresstesting in the nearfuture in (inter)national cities around the world.

International knowledge exchange on infiltration of stormwater under extreme climate and geohydrolic circumstances

Urbanisation and climate change have an effect on the water balance in our cities resulting in challenges as flooding, droughts and heatstress. Implementation of Sustainable Urban Drainage Systems (SuDS) can help to restore the water balance in cities by storing and infiltrating stormwater into the subsurface to minimise flooding, restoration of groundwater tables to prevent droughts, lowering temperatures by evapotranspiration to fight heatstress. Urban planners and otherstakeholders in municipalities and water authorities struggle with implementing SuDS at locations where infiltration of water seems challenging. Questions arise as: can you infiltrate in countries as The Netherlands with parts under sea level, high groundwater table and low permeable soil? Can you infiltrate in Norway with low permeable or impermeable bedrock and frozen ground most of theyear? How do you find space to implement SuDS in the dense urban areas of Bucharest? These questions are answered by researchers of the JPI Water funded project INovations for eXtreme Climatic Events (INXCES).To answer the question on ‘can we infiltrate stormwater under worse case conditions?’, testing of the hydraulic capacity take place at rainwater gardens in Norway (Bergen and Trondheim) and (bio)swales in the low lying parts of The Netherlands. The first results show that even under these ‘extreme’ hydraulic circumstances the hydraulic capacity (or empty time) is sufficient to infiltratemost of the stormwater throughout the year.INXCES exchanged researchers on an international level, shared research results with stakeholders and sets up guidelines for design, implementation and maintenance of SuDS to promote the implementation of sustainable water management systems throughout the world.One of the tools used to promote SuDS is www.climatescan.nl, an open source online map application that provides an easy-to-access database of international project information in the field of urban resilience and climate adaptation. The tool is able to map several sustainable urban drainage systems as has been done for Norway, The Netherlands, Romania and other countries in the world.The tool is used for engagement with stakeholders within EU projects as INXCES and WaterCoG and resulted in international knowledge exchange on infiltration of stormwater under extreme climate and geohydrolic circumstances.

International knowledge exchange Nature Based Solution with the ClimateScan adaptation platform

''There is a clear demand for a collaborative knowledge-sharing on climate adaptation and mitigation. As a consequence of urban expansion, green spaces are lost and the available areas for pervious green areas are decreasing. Many cities will experience greater impacts from flooding and heatstress due to climate change. Blue-green and small scale Nature-based solutions (NBS) such as bio swales, raingardens and wetlands offer opportunities to adapt urban areas to the impacts of climate change, but their multiple benefits are often unknown to the wider public. Research suggests that effective management of mitigate flood events and heat stress will be achieved by applying a range of NBS measures at different locations in cities [Majidi et al 2019]. Mapping of these (potential) locations for NBS will raise awareness and contribute to capacity building on climate adaptation. Some open source Climate Change Adaptation Platforms (CCAPs) allow mapping of NBS by citizen science and can help to inform and inspire different stakeholders on the topic of climate adaptation in respective region. The aim of most CCAPs is to facilitate an open and free exchange of knowledge on an international scale. Raising awareness about climate adaptation in urban areas and promoting NBS are also key aims.''

Storm water and wastewater management for improving water quality

Climate change and urbanization will increase the frequency and magnitude of urban flooding and water quality problems in many regions of the world. In coastal and delta areas like The Netherlands and the Philippines, where urbanization is often high, there has been an increase in the adoption of sustainable urban drainage systems (SUDS). SUDS are installed around the world with the expectation to reduce urban flooding and reduce the pollution impact on receiving waters. Most cities in Asia are starting to implement SUDS as their strategy to make their cities sustainable and resilient.The combination of SUDS with appropriate wastewater treatment and management systems have the potential to be multifunctional in alleviating flood run-off, improving water quality, alleviating heat stress and as a source for reusing the stormwater and wastewater.Since the earliest SUDS are implemented in Europe decades ago it is advised to use the lessons learnt in this process. International knowledge exchange is promoted in projects as IWASTO where several organisations from the Philippines and The Netherlands join forces on a specific region as the Pateros riverin Manila with the aim to minimise the pollution impact on this receiving water. The first findings of this project related to storm water and wastewater management are presented in this paper. In this stage of the project high level support models that map the challenges in the city (such as flooding and heatstress) arevaluable tools for implementing cost effective sustainable drainage for improving water quality.

Citytrainers: sportieve kracht voor de stad.Sportactiviteiten voor en door jongeren

Gemeenten werven voor het project Citytrainer jongeren van 12+ die een positieve bijdrage aan hun stad of wijk leveren door – op vrijwillige basis – voor andere jongeren sportactiviteiten en events te organiseren. De gemeenten leiden deze jongeren op tot Citytrainers en begeleiden hen vervolgens bij de opzet en uitvoering van sportactiviteiten en/of events. Het doel van het project is om door middel van vrijwillige inzet van jongeren jongerenparticipatie te bevorderen, de jongeren beter te bereiken voor buurtsportactiviteiten en zo de sociale samenhang en leefbaarheid in de wijken te verhogen. In 2012 zijn er drie pilots in drie gemeenten gehouden met de cursus en vervolgens inzet van Citytrainers.