6c. Resilience and Adaptivity

Track chairs:

Regine Ortlepp. Head of Research Area "Environmental Risks in Urban and Regional Development", IOER (Leibniz Institute for Ecological Urban and Regional Development), Germany. r.ortlepp@ioer.de

György Alföldi. Dean, Faculty of Architecture, Department of Urban Planning & Design, Budapest University of Technology and Economics, Budapest, Hungary. alfoldi.gyorgy@urb.bme.hu

Goals and objectives of the track:

The track focuses on the factors and processes that contribute to make cities and urban settlements more resilient in the face of global challenges. The overall objective is to critically review and discuss recent innovations in measures, strategies and instruments regarding their potential and limits to adapt and enhance resilience of urban and rural environments with the aim of reducing negative effects of rising risks of natural hazards generated by climate change.

Climate change is already taking place today - the world is already experiencing changes in average temperature, shifts in the seasons and an increasing frequency of extreme weather events and other climate change impacts and slow onset events. This trend is bound to increase in the future. The consequences of these environmental risks include current natural and damaging events such as the heat summer of 2003 in Western and Central Europe, the June flood of 2013 in Central Europe, various hailstorms and heavy rainfall events in 2013/14 in Germany, winter storm Niklas 2014 in Western and Central Europe or the drought of 2015 and 2018+19 in Central and Eastern Europe. As negative consequences such environmental risks are on the one hand the threat of life and limb of the population and otherwise its Losses on property, plant and equipment and assets and losses in value added.

In order to avoid or at least minimize such damage and injuries caused by the impacts of climate change that are already happening, effective adaptation measures and strategies are required to exploit possible opportunities associated with climate change in the future. Adaptation refers to adjustments in ecological, social, or economic systems in response to actual or expected climatic stimuli and their effects or impacts. It refers to changes in the built environment including measures, strategies, processes and structures to mitigate potential damage and make cities and urban settlements more resilient.

Track questions

Considering the adaptation challenges sketched above, the overarching questions addressed by this track are therefore:

How can the quality of life of people in cities and rural areas be improved or at least maintained despite climate change?
Which structural adaptation measures to residential and/or non-residential buildings such as implementing flood resilient technologies or the installation of shading systems regarding urban heat can contribute to the reduction of climate change impacts?
Which urban adaptation measures including urban greenery in the form of parks, façade and roof greening can contribute to make cities and urban settlements more resilient regarding impacts of climate change?
It is possible to find sets of measures that are both innovative and socially just and are accepted by the residents at the same time?
What are the strengths and weaknesses of adaptation measures in cities and what are the communication and implementation barriers for climate adaptation measures between different actors and authorities?
Which factors, in particular network and governance structures as well as institutional framework conditions, are decisive for their success or failure?
What influence do social processes have on strategic planning and the development of resilience?
Which planning approaches can be used for the managing of environmental risks in the urban and rural environment and regional development?

We invite contributions from researchers and practitioners on the resilience and adaptivity of urban to rural settlements.

With regard to potential publications, the journal "Sustainable Development" (https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/journal/10991719) - closely linked to the International Sustainable Development Research Society (ISDRS) - has been requested regarding the possibility of launching a special issue, depending on the number and quality of contributions.

&nbps;