Summer School: ADAPTIVE GOVERNANCE: SPATIAL, TEMPORAL AND CULTURAL CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES
SPECTRA Centre of Excellencie participates on Summer School: "ADAPTIVE GOVERNANCE: SPATIAL, TEMPORAL AND CULTURAL CONSTRAINTS AND OPPORTUNITIES". The Summer School – the 1st Module – is hosted by EC Tempus Project No. 511390: Environmental Governance for Environmental Curricula at the Faculty of Natural Sciences, Comenius University in Bratislava, Slovakia and is organized in co-operation with the Centre for Transdisciplinary Study of Institutions, Evolutions and Policies (CETIP) in Bratislava, Slovakia, Centre for Excellence Spectra+ in Bratislava, Slovakia and other partners´ organisations (University J. E. Purkyně, Ústí n. L., Czech Republic Central European University in Budapest, Hungary, Regional Environmental Centre, Slovakia and Bratislava City Hall, Slovakia).
Adaptation Strategies for European Cities
Climate change is a fast-moving research area and adaptation to climate change started to be an essential component of truly „sustainable development“. Consequences of climate change are apparent significantly in urban areas in Europe e.g. in the form of rising summer temperatures and heat waves changing precipitation patterns, increasing number of extreme weather events as storms, periods of drought and floods. Cities and agglomerations with high population density, where the problem of urban heat might become most relevant, are also affected (together with coastal regions, mountain regions and regions exposed to river flooding) among the most vulnerability types of regions.
The results from the newest project “Adaptation Strategies for European Cities” initiated in 2012 by the European Commission’s Directorate General for Climate Action (DG CLIMA) will be presented in the 1st Module. The project evaluates best practice across Europe, provides guidance and tools for adaptation strategies, organises training, supports the development of urban adaptation strategies and enables cities to actively participate in developing and implementing an adaptation strategy.
We will explain results from the GRaBS (European Interreg IVC project: Green and blue space adaptation for urban areas and eco towns) project.A key element of the GRaBS is vulnerability, which relates to the susceptibility of elements at risk (e.g. people, buildings, green space) to climate hazards such as heat stress or flooding. The GRaBS Vulnerability and Risk Assessment Tool focuses on identification of locations characterised by high vulnerability, which when exposed may be at high risk from climate change impacts, in order to develop and implement adaptation actions for them.