Cost benefit analysis for climate change adaptation and sustainable flood water management in cities

Training

Cost benefit analysis for climate change adaptation and sustainable flood water management in cities

A training module aimed at increasing the capacity of cities including decision makers and professionals on cost benefit analysis of climate change adaptation.

Cities are facing increasing risks caused by extreme climate events, making housing, infrastructure, traffic, health, ecosystems and cultural and historical heritage vulnerable. Continuous climate change is expected to further increase this risk, and thus the need for adequate and timely response of decision maker’s at all administrative levels. Accordingly, planning adaptation measures has become a high priority for local government authorities and property owners in cities.

The challenge

However, the cost-effective planning of adaptation strategies is very complicated. The integrated assessment of climate events, associated flooding, damage costs and adaptation measures requires multidisciplinary work and close interaction between professionals and decision-makers. Damage cost assessments and adaptation planning also require context-specific data and modelling, which, all together, can be very demanding in the development of solid local adaptation plans for decision-making.

Aims and objectives

The training module aims at initiating the process of increasing the capacity of cities including decision makers and professionals on cost benefit analysis of climate change adaptation. Technical issues and decision-making approaches will be addressed in relation to climate information, damage assessments, cost benefit analysis, adaptation finance and implementation barriers. The primary focus will be on climate risks of flooding from extreme precipitation, river flooding and storm surges, and implementation of adaptation options including sustainable water infrastructure in protecting against such events.

The training will emphasize knowledge creation and practical experiences in relation to cost benefit analysis, impact assessment, hazard mapping, damage cost assessment, economic valuation, adaptation costs, implementation and finance in a local and international context.

The project consists of the following core activities:

Develop the format of the training module(s)
Identify potential barriers to scaling adaptation.
Development of a generic methodology of how to make the training context-specific by involving local experts in the planning, management and operation of the training.
Development of course content for the in-person training module(s)

The project is led by the Danish Technical University and implemented jointly with the University of Copenhagen.

Interested in this project?

The training is designed to initiate and support capacity building within public administrations at all levels and for their supporting partners in the private sector, and we are welcoming and encouraging the following to participate:

City staff seeking training in urban flood water issues
Government staff seeking training in urban flood water issues
Technical staff at water utilities supporting decision making in climate adaptation issues
Consultants working with climate adaptation and urban flooding

Contact details

Per Skougaard Kaspersen
pskk@dtu.dk

Researcher in the Climate Change and Sustainable Development research group at the Technical University of Denmark (DTU). He is a geographer by training, specialising in climate change risk assessments, impact modelling (e.g. flood modelling) and the development of tools in relation to decision making on climate change adaptation. He has recently participated in a project on adaptation of SMEs in Mumbai, India, where his key responsibility was the development of a cost-benefit tool to support adaptation decision making. He is currently working on research projects related to climate services and climate change adaptation to flooding in the Danube area.