Abstract
Climate change is a reality and it will impact human and natural systems despite the worldwide measures to limit greenhouse gas emissions. Adaptation to climate change is therefore an urgent task, and while climate change is a global challenge, adaptation needs to be place based. Adapting to climate change requires a multi-level approach supported by sufficient and suitable information regarding the different stakeholders. Despite existing information gaps, a vast amount of knowledge and information related to climate change has already been generated and made available, yet in practice, only a fraction of this information is used by adaptation policy makers and decision-makers. The skills and capacities of adaptation stakeholders to use existing information are constrained – at the community, local and national government level, among European policymakers, researchers and knowledge providers. Difficulties exist regarding identifying knowledge from a wide range of sources, analysing this information and adapting it to the local context. A collaborative approach, a common language and a continuous collaborative learning between the different stakeholders can help overcome these barriers.
Access this chapter
Tax calculation will be finalised at checkout
Purchases are for personal use only
Notes
- 1.
France. 2010. “Grenelle II: Loi n° 2010-788 du 12 Juillet 2010 portant engagement national pour l’environnement.” http://www.legifrance.gouv.fr/affichTexte.do?cidTexte=JORFTEXT000022470434
- 2.
For examples of climate change adaptation portals in European, see: KomPass: www.anpassung.net/; Klimatilpasning: www.klimatilpasning.dk/; Observatoire national sur les effets du réchauffement climatique (ONERC): http://www.developpement-durable.gouv.fr/English-presentation,21120.html; UKCIP: www.ukcip.org.uk/
References
Adaptation Sub-Committee (ASC). (2010). How well prepared is the UK for climate change? London: Committee on Climate Change Adaptation.
Alber, G., & Kern, K. (2008). Governing climate change in cities: Modes of urban governance in multi-level systems. OECD International conference competitive cities and climate change, 2nd annual meeting of the OECD Roundtable Strategy for Urban Development, October 9–10, 2008, Milan.
Biesbroek, G. R., Swart, R. J., Carter, T. R., Cowan, C., Henrichs, T., Mela, H., Morecroft, M. D., & Rey, D. (2010). Europe adapts to climate change: Comparing national adaptation strategies. Global Environmental Change, 20(3), 440–450.
Brooks, N., & Adger, N. (2004). Assessing and enhancing adaptive capacity. In B. Lim & E. Spanger-Siegfried (Eds.), Adaptation policy frameworks for climate change: Developing strategies, policies and measures (pp. 165–182). Cambridge: United Nations Development Programme, Cambridge University Press.
Bulkeley, H., Schroeder, H., Janda, K., Zhao, J., Armstrong, A., Yi Chu, S., & Ghosh, S. (2009). Cities and climate change: The role of institutions, governance and urban planning. Report prepared for the World Bank Urban Symposium on Climate Change. Department of Geography, Durham University, UK and Environmental Change Institute, University of Oxford, UK.
Carter, J. (2011). Climate change adaptation in European cities. Current Opinion in Environmental Sustainability, 3(3), 193–198.
Cavan, G., Kingston, R., Lindley, S., Kazmierczak, A., Carter, J., Gong, Y., & Handley, J. (2010). Climate change and urban areas: Development of a climate change risk and vulnerability assessment tool. Proceeding of the Construction, Building and Real Estate Research Conference of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors held at Dauphine Université, Paris, September 2–3, 2010. ISBN 978-1-84219-619-9.
EC European Commission. (2008). The 2003 European heat wave. Brussels: Commission of the European Communities. Available at: http://ec.europa.eu/health/phinformation/dissemination/unexpected/unexpected_1_en.htm.
EC European Commission. (2009). White paper – adapting to climate change: Towards a european framework for action (COM 147 final). Brussels: Commission of the European Communities.
EEA European Environment Agency. (2006). Urban sprawl in Europe: The ignored challenge (EEA-Report 10/2006). Copenhagen: European Environment Agency.
Fünfgeld, H., & McEvoy, D. (2011). Framing climate change adaptation in policy and practice (Working Paper 1). Melbourne: Victorian Centre for Climate Change Adaptation Research. http://www.vcccar.org.au/files/vcccar/Framing_project_workingpaper1_190411.pdf. Accessed 22 June 2011.
Kazmierczak, A., & Carter, J. (2010). Adaptation to climate change using green and blue infrastructure: A database of case studies. Manchester: University of Manchester. Available at: http://grabs-eu.org/casestudies.php
Keskitalo, C. (2010). Developing adaptation policy and practice in Europe: Multi-level governance of climate change. Dordrecht: Springer.
Kingston, R. (2011). Tooling up for risk and vulnerability assessment. Town and Country Planning, 80(6), 264–268.
Pitt, M. (2008). Learning lessons from the 2007 floods, an independent review by Sir Michael Pitt. London: Cabinet Office.
Satterthwaite, D. (2008). Climate change and urbanization: Effects and implications for urban governance. New York: Department of Economic and Social Affairs, United Nations.
University of Manchester. (2011). Grabs adaptation action planning toolkit. Manchester: University of Manchester. http://www.ppgis.manchester.ac.uk/grabs/start.html
Wilson, E. (2006). Adapting to climate change at the local level: The spatial planning response. Local Environment, 11(6), 609–625.
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Editor information
Editors and Affiliations
Rights and permissions
Copyright information
© 2012 Springer Science+Business Media B.V.
About this paper
Cite this paper
Georgi, B., Kaźmierczak, A., Fünfgeld, H. (2012). Knowledge and Information for Resilient Cities. In: Otto-Zimmermann, K. (eds) Resilient Cities 2. Local Sustainability, vol 2. Springer, Dordrecht. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4223-9_27
Download citation
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-94-007-4223-9_27
Published:
Publisher Name: Springer, Dordrecht
Print ISBN: 978-94-007-4222-2
Online ISBN: 978-94-007-4223-9
eBook Packages: Earth and Environmental ScienceEarth and Environmental Science (R0)