Cities are susceptible to climate change, according to studies addressing the consequences of heat, drought and pluvial flooding. How can cities apply this knowledge in practice?
It is of global importance to make cities climate-proof and water-robust to keep them healthy, safe and prosperous. More than half of the 17 million people in the Netherlands live in urban areas and the number continues to grow. What are the best measures to deal with this? That is the pivotal question in the Climate-Proof City research track. The emphasis is on opening up and disseminating knowledge and promoting knowledge growth.
Four threats are important: flooding, pluvial flooding, drought and heat. Cities also have other social tasks to tackle. It is efficient to include climate-adaptation measures in the process. Examples include measures regarding water management, health, mobility, greenery, biodiversity and reorganisation. Various locations in the Netherlands are running practical experiments and pilot projects, and the experience gained thereby forms the basis for the knowledge agenda. An important part of the Climate-Proof City is the projects tour, which is a tour of completed projects designed to learn, transfer knowledge and develop new questions.
The ultimate objective of the research track is to ensure that all involved parties in the city know what climate-proof means for their sector, and that they can find and use the necessary knowledge and information about it. Special attention is paid to green-blue measures in urban areas, financing climate-adaptive measures, health and the possibilities to link up with existing policy (linkage).
If you would like to know more about Climate-Proof City, please feel free to contact Joke van Wensem.