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+31(0)6 48 27 55 61

secretaris@4tu.nl

Website: 4TU.nl

Twente Resilience Meeting & Drinks

Wednesday 21 October 2020 / 15.45 - 17.30

Note: this will be an online event

Since January 2018, the 4TU Centre for Resilience Engineering (4TU.RE) has been set-up, including the 4TU DeSIRE programme. In January 2019, UT established “Engineering for a Resilient World” as one of the five strategic themes. Because of these two important initiatives, we want to build and strengthen a local resilience network/community Resilience@UT, as part of several national and international networks that are being set-up around (aspects of) resilience.

We have invited two UT researchers who are going to present about their own research in the area of resilience broadly defined. See below for the programme, some more background information and two short abstracts of the presentations.

We aim at an interactive meeting, with a lot of discussion in which get a better understanding of how diverse is resilience research going on at the university and beyond, we learn about each other’s research in the area of resilience,  and develop ideas for future research collaborations.

About the event

Programme

15.45-15.55
Logging in and welcome

16.00-16.20        
Presentation by dr. Funda Atun Girgin (ITC) (streamed through Teams)
Nature based solutions: systemic integration of green and blue elements in cities

16.20-16.40        
Presentation by Tim Doornkamp, MSc (streamed through Teams)
How flood projects influence urban flood resilience: A case study from Christchurch, New Zealand

16.40-16.45        
Discussion

16.45-17.00        
Q&A

17.00-17.30        
Drinks in the online chat

Information about the presentations

Nature based solutions: systemic integration of green and blue elements in cities

Dr. Funda Atun Girgin (ITC)

Recently “nature based solutions” (NBS) or “building with nature” have received global attention as a multidimensional approach to reduce the impact of climate change and associated meteorological disaster risks in cities, as well as providing solutions to global challenges. The European Commission (EC) recognizes that NBS can support innovation and address social, economic and environmental challenges through introducing green and blue elements in cities. Scientific studies have demonstrated the potential of NBS in cities. One example is the promotion of green areas and trees in cities to tackle adverse impacts of heat waves in addition to improving air quality, promoting urban farming, or providing areas for water detention. However, knowledge of such applications is fragmented. Considering climate change and associated effects, a multi-disciplinary review of literature and the results of research projects on the role of green and blue elements in cities with regard to equity, social justice and integration is very much needed and is the aim of this contribution. In this talk, I will share with you the preliminary results of our research that is based on the review of multi-disciplinary literature and some of the selected EU funded projects to synthesize the knowledge on 1) equity and justice, 2) the urban focus, and 3) participatory approach/citizen engagement in implementation of NBS.

How flood projects influence urban flood resilience: A case study from Christchurch, New Zealand

Tim Doornkamp, MSc 

More than 50 percent of the world’s population lives in cities, and over two-thirds of the world’s cities will be exposed to flooding within the next 30 years. The projected impacts of climate change, such as sea-level rise and an increased likelihood of heavy storms, further increases the need to enhance urban flood resilience. This paper adopts a holistic approach to assess to what extent and why a flood project contributes to urban flood resilience. It combines engineering and social aspects of resilience, with specific attention for the role of the process design, and governance context in which the flood project took place. The approach includes six steps: (1) characterizing the urban system, (2) characterizing the flood project and context, (3) assessing the impact of the project on functional resilience, (4) explaining the functional resilience impact, (5) assessing the impact of the project on adaptive capacity, (6) explaining the adaptive capacity impact. For the functional resilience assessment, a set of ‘resilience principles’ was used: homeostasis, omnivory, high flux, flatness, buffering, and redundancy. For the adaptive capacity assessment, two hundred sixty adult residents were interviewed using a structured questionnaire. Participants were asked about their involvement in the project, their knowledge, risk perception, perceived adaptive capacity, and motivation. The approach was applied to the Dudley Creek flood project in Christchurch, New Zealand. The study revealed that the flood project as a whole increased the urban flood resilience of the system, both improving functional resilience and adaptive capacity. The project impact was limited in particular with regard to local competences, as the project underutilized the principles of flatness and redundancy, and was not found to significantly impact the motivation and perceived adaptive capacity of citizens. To enlarge the resilience impact of future flood projects, the current study recommends that resilience and local competency targets are incorporated into the project goals. Citizens should be encouraged and facilitated to engage in the response, and to self-respond, to disturbances on a regular basis. A personal/direct engagement approach, two-way dialogue, clear roles for participation, and transparency in decision-making are key.

Practical information

Location & time

Microsoft Teams

October 21, 2020 | 15:45 - 17:30

Registration

To register, please contact 4tu-re-secretariat@utwente.nl.