Smart Climate Change Adaptation in Rotterdam, Delta City of the Future

2010 ◽  
Vol 5 (4) ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Dircke ◽  
A. Molenaar
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Flood Control ◽  
Flood Management ◽  
World Population ◽  
Management Game ◽  
The World ◽  
Design And Manufacturing ◽  
The Future ◽  
Smart Technologies

In 2025 the majority of the world population will live in flood prone delta cities. Delta City Rotterdam, with one of the biggest ports in the world, is dealing with the consequences of climate change in a very pro-active and smart way, turning these challenges into opportunities. Rotterdam wants to become one of the global leaders in water management and climate change adaptation, by using new and smart technologies and protecting its citizens against the future impacts of sea level rise and intensified rainfall by making Rotterdam completely “Climate Proof” by 2025. And also by developing its old city ports area by adding attractive waterfronts and knowledge centers like the RDM Campus (Research, Design and manufacturing), where education of future generations is combined with innovative and sustainable development of businesses and sciences, and with experiencing best practices. One of the major innovative and smart solutions for climate change adaptation discussed in this paper is called “Smart Flood Control Rotterdam”, the development of a serious flood management game for Rotterdam. All this knowledge and experiences are shared with other Delta Cities of the world, in the C40 “Connecting Delta Cities” network.

The Challenges of Climate Change and Food Security in the United Arab Emirates (UAE): From Deep Understanding to Quick Actions

2019 ◽  
Vol 15 (5) ◽  
pp. 422-429 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rahaf M. Ajaj ◽  
Suzan M. Shahin ◽  
Mohammed A. Salem
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Food Security ◽  
United Arab Emirates ◽  
Food Production ◽  
Agricultural Sector ◽  
Deep Understanding ◽  
Primary Objective ◽  
World Population ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future

Climate change and global warming became a real concern for global food security. The world population explosion is a critical factor that results in enormous emissions of greenhouse gasses (GHGs), required to cover the growing demands of fresh water, food, and shelter. The United Arab Emirates (UAE) is a significant oil-producing country, which is included in the list of 55 countries that produce at least 55% of the world’s GHGs and thus involved in the top 30 countries over the world with emission deficits. At the same time, the UAE is located in an arid region of the world, with harsh environmental conditions. The sharp population increases and the massive growth in the urbanization are primary sources, lead to further stresses on the agricultural sector. Thus, the future of the food production industry in the country is a challenging situation. Consequently, the primary objective of this work is to shed light on the current concerns related to climate change and food security, through describing the implications of climate change on the food production sector of the UAE. Tailored solutions that can rescue the future of food security in the country are also highlighted.

Foundations of Migration Economics

2019 ◽  
Author(s):  
George J. Borjas ◽  
Barry R. Chiswick
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Developing Countries ◽  
Labor Markets ◽  
International Migration ◽  
World Population ◽  
Country Of Birth ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
New Challenges

Migration these days is as topical as ever. A substantial and even increasing percentage of the world population live outside their country of birth. Climate change, conflicts, but also better education in developing countries will lead to more international migration, and will present new challenges to the societies in the sending and receiving countries. This volume offers insights into core topics of migration economics that have been pioneered by 2011 IZA Prize Laureates George Borjas and Barry Chiswick. The book shows migration economics at its best and underscores its high relevance for shaping the future of modern societies and labor markets.

Climate change adaptation; innovative tools and strategies in Delta City Rotterdam

2015 ◽  
Vol 10 (4) ◽  
pp. 674-680 ◽  
Author(s):  
P. Dircke ◽  
A. Molenaar
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Rockefeller Foundation ◽  
Economic Value ◽  
Adaptation Strategy ◽  
Global Network ◽  
World Population ◽  
The World ◽  
Resilient Communities ◽  
Smart Technologies ◽  
The City

In 2025 the majority of the world population will live in flood prone delta cities. Delta City Rotterdam, with one of the biggest ports in the world, is dealing with the consequences of climate change in a very pro-active and smart way, turning challenges into opportunities. The RCP Rotterdam Climate Proof program aims at making the city completely climate resilient by 2025, by building multifunctional flood protection and innovative water storage for urban drain water. But also by kicking-off a Rotterdam Adaptation Strategy RAS, by using new smart technologies like Apps and serious gaming, and by redeveloping and revitalizing its old city ports areas with attractive waterfronts. At these waterfronts, where education of future generations is combined with innovative and sustainable development of businesses, best practices are showcased to make the city more attractive, to add economic value and to create resilient communities. This knowledge and experience is shared with other delta and coastal cities in the world, in the ‘Connecting Delta Cities’ global network, and with the Rockefeller Foundation 100 Resilient Cities initiative. This article explains that dealing with climate change in a pro-active and smart way creates opportunities for attractive, resilient and economically strong delta cities of the future.

scholarly journals An Analysis of Green Infrastructure Implementation Strategies in Portland and Other Global Leaders in Climate Action

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
◽  
Rachel LeMont ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Green Infrastructure ◽  
Implementation Strategies ◽  
Urban Environments ◽  
Local Organizations ◽  
The World ◽  
Exchange Information ◽  
The Future ◽  
Climate Action

Green infrastructure has become increasingly popular as a way to mitigate and adapt to the effects of climate change in urban environments. Cities all over the world, including Portland, have developed their own strategies which inform local organizations on the actions they should take to be climate resilient - and many of these strategies include the implementation of green infrastructure. This thesis compares Portland's green infrastructure implementation strategies to those known around the world, and utilizes themes found in those strategies to create a survey on local green infrastructure initiatives in the Portland area. This information will be important for conservationists to exchange information on innovative approaches to climate change adaptation that are being taken, and identify areas where more focus is needed in the future.

Future population exposures to unprecedented climatic risks

2020 ◽  
Author(s):  
Taikan Oki ◽  
Taichi Sano
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
At Risk ◽  
Extreme Weather ◽  
Sub Saharan Africa ◽  
World Population ◽  
Extreme Temperatures ◽  
Climatic Risk ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
Climatic Risks

Abstract Anthropogenic climate change is causing shifts in the frequencies of extreme weather events. There is an urgent need to quantify future unprecedented risks from extreme temperatures and precipitation, and the geographic distributions of at-risk areas. Here, we define the rim of two-dimensional (2D) risk histograms for 20-year extreme temperatures and precipitation as a climatic risk boundary. We found that nearly a quarter of the world population in South Asia, sub-Saharan Africa, and other regions of the world will transgress the climatic risk boundaries by the end of this century under RCP8.5 scenario, while under the future RCP2.6 scenario, only 5.8% of population will transgress the climatic risk boundaries. Some metropolitan areas, such as Delhi, Mumbai, and Tokyo, will also overstep the boundaries. While many large cities will remain within the climatic risk boundaries, they will still be exposed to unprecedented climatic risks in relation to the experiences of people in that region. This study will help refine public perceptions of extreme climatic risks and lead to more efficient policy making. In the future, unprecedented extreme weather risks should be properly considered in the impact assessments of climate change, and transfers of technologies and experiences gained in other regions to new at-risk regions should be supported to assist with adaptation to extreme climatic risks.

scholarly journals Enhancing the Ecological Value of Sea Dikes

Water ◽  
2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (8) ◽  
pp. 1617 ◽  
Author(s):  
Scheres ◽  
Schüttrumpf
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Interdisciplinary Collaboration ◽  
Ecological Value ◽  
Protection Measures ◽  
Surface Protection ◽  
Societal Needs ◽  
Ecological Aspects ◽  
The World ◽  
Sea Dikes

Sea dikes protect low-lying hinterlands along many coasts all around the world. Commonly, they are designed as embankments with grass covers or grey revetments accounting for the prevailing hydraulic loads. So far, incorporation of ecological aspects in the dike design is limited. With regard to increasing environmental awareness and climate change adaptation needs, the present study reviews methods for ecological enhancement of sea dikes and discusses limitations and challenges related to these methods. In doing so, one key aspect is to maintain dike safety while increasing the ecological value. Potential for ecological enhancement of sea dikes has been found regarding natural or nature-based solutions in the foreshore, dike surface protection measures (vegetated dike covers, hard revetments and dike roads) and the dike geometry. While natural and nature-based solutions in the foreland are investigated thoroughly, so far only few experiences with ecological enhancements of the dike structure itself were gained resulting in uncertainties and knowledge gaps concerning the implementation and efficiency. Additional to technical uncertainties, engineers and ecologists meet the challenge of interdisciplinary collaboration under consideration of societal needs and expectations.

scholarly journals Envisioning Climate Change Adaptation Futures Using Storytelling Workshops

2021 ◽  
Vol 13 (12) ◽  
pp. 6630
Author(s):  
Rachel Harcourt ◽  
Wändi Bruine de Bruin ◽  
Suraje Dessai ◽  
Andrea Taylor
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Social Change ◽  
Climate Change Adaptation ◽  
Local Community ◽  
Adaptation Planning ◽  
The West ◽  
Community Or ◽  
Rebel Groups ◽  
The Future ◽  
The Government

Engaging people in preparing for inevitable climate change may help them to improve their own safety and contribute to local and national adaptation objectives. However, existing research shows that individual engagement with adaptation is low. One contributing factor to this might be that public discourses on climate change often seems dominated by overly negative and seemingly pre-determined visions of the future. Futures thinking intends to counter this by re-presenting the future as choice contingent and inclusive of other possible and preferable outcomes. Here, we undertook storytelling workshops with participants from the West Yorkshire region of the U.K. They were asked to write fictional adaptation futures stories which: opened by detailing their imagined story world, moved to events that disrupted those worlds, provided a description of who responded and how and closed with outcomes and learnings from the experience. We found that many of the stories envisioned adaptation as a here-and-now phenomenon, and that good adaptation meant identifying and safeguarding things of most value. However, we also found notable differences as to whether the government, local community or rebel groups were imagined as leaders of the responsive actions, and as to whether good adaptation meant maintaining life as it had been before the disruptive events occurred or using the disruptive events as a catalyst for social change. We suggest that the creative futures storytelling method tested here could be gainfully applied to support adaptation planning across local, regional and national scales.

Tending this Fragile Earth, Our Island Home: The Pope's Encyclical in Dialogue with Ecomimesis, a Design Model for Conservation Stewardship

2018 ◽  
Vol 100 (4) ◽  
pp. 745-766
Author(s):  
Lillian C. Woo
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Water Pollution ◽  
Anthropogenic Impact ◽  
Natural World ◽  
Design Solution ◽  
World Population ◽  
Natural Ecosystem ◽  
Natural Ecosystems ◽  
The Earth ◽  
The World

In the last fifty years, empirical evidence has shown that climate change and environmental degradation are largely the results of increased world population, economic development, and changes in cultural and social norms. Thus far we have been unable to slow or reverse the practices that continue to produce more air and water pollution, soil and ocean degradation, and ecosystem decline. This paper analyzes the negative anthropogenic impact on the ecosystem and proposes a new design solution: ecomimesis, which uses the natural ecosystem as its template to conserve, restore, and improve existing ecosystems. Through its nonintrusive strategies and designs, and its goal of preserving natural ecosystems and the earth, ecomimesis can become an integral part of stabilizing and rehabilitating our natural world at the same time that it addresses the needs of growing economies and populations around the world.

Climate, ticks and disease

2021 ◽  
Keyword(s):  
Climate Change ◽  
Spatial Distribution ◽  
Disease Ecology ◽  
Future Climate Change ◽  
Climate Change Scenarios ◽  
Expert Opinions ◽  
The World ◽  
Host Pathogen ◽  
The Future ◽  
Impacts Of Climate Change

Abstract This book is a collection of 77 expert opinions arranged in three sections. Section 1 on "Climate" sets the scene, including predictions of future climate change, how climate change affects ecosystems, and how to model projections of the spatial distribution of ticks and tick-borne infections under different climate change scenarios. Section 2 on "Ticks" focuses on ticks (although tick-borne pathogens creep in) and whether or not changes in climate affect the tick biosphere, from physiology to ecology. Section 3 on "Disease" focuses on the tick-host-pathogen biosphere, ranging from the triangle of tick-host-pathogen molecular interactions to disease ecology in various regions and ecosystems of the world. Each of these three sections ends with a synopsis that aims to give a brief overview of all the expert opinions within the section. The book concludes with Section 4 (Final Synopsis and Future Predictions). This synopsis attempts to summarize evidence provided by the experts of tangible impacts of climate change on ticks and tick-borne infections. In constructing their expert opinions, contributors give their views on what the future might hold. The final synopsis provides a snapshot of their expert thoughts on the future.

The Future of Water

2019 ◽  
pp. 227-232
Author(s):  
Edward B. Barbier
Keyword(s):  
Water Security ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystems ◽  
Freshwater Ecosystem ◽  
World Population ◽  
Policy Reforms ◽  
Global Management ◽  
Market Signals ◽  
The World ◽  
The Future ◽  
The One

This concluding chapter looks at the future of water. There are two possible paths for managing water. First, if the world continues with inadequate governance and institutions, incorrect market signals, and insufficient innovations to improve efficiency and manage competing demands, most chronic water and scarcity problems will continue to worsen. The world will see a future of declining water security, freshwater ecosystem degradation, and increasing disputes and conflicts over remaining water resources. The alternative path to managing water is the one offered by this book. If, in anticipation of the coming decades of increasing water scarcity, humankind is able to develop appropriate governance and institutions for water management, instigate market and policy reforms, and address global management issues, then improved innovation and investments in new water technologies and better protection of freshwater ecosystems should secure sufficient beneficial water use for a growing world population.

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