ZURES Closing Event
- Projects
ZURES-Closing-Event: Validation and Reflection on an Innovative Instrument for Future-oriented Heat Vulnerability Assessment and Social Transformation
Stuttgart 15./16.10.2019
With years of close cooperation between researchers and practitioners in the development of innovative methods and instruments for a future-oriented vulnerability and risk assessment of urban areas by taking into account heat stress and social transformation processes, the BMBF-funded research project ZURES organised a validation and project-closing workshop during 15 – 16 October 2019 in Stuttgart. The workshop’s objective was not only to present the results of the project but also to initiate a mutual exchange between researchers and practitioners on knowledge and experiences on the integration of climate vulnerability analyses into spatial planning.
Recently, climate change has increasingly found its way into legislation (e. g. adoption of the 2014 EIA directive). Taking into account possible future climate impacts in planning and development becomes more compulsory for cities. In the BauGB in particular, there have been amendments to ensure the mainstreaming of climate impacts into urban development based on the best available scientific evidence and knowledge. Because of the severe impact of heat on human health, cities elevate the priority of climate cange related risks in urban planning and development policies, especially in densely populated areas with vulnerable population groups. In this regard, the demonstration of ZURES’ results on future-oriented scenario-based vulnerability assessment on the local level (in Bonn and Ludwigsburg) are perceived as very useful and innovative instruments for cities to compare the actual situation and wide-range of future scenarios with interdisciplinary perspectives. Nevertheless, lacking technical standards of climate parameters and lacking/limited usage of small-scale data are key challenges, which could occur during implementation. Moreover, in this interactive workshop, the participants also reflected that ZURES’ product is very useful for both formal and informal planning instruments, especially for urban development plans and heat action plans.
