Blog: Adaptation Stories

„Kein Fluss ist in der Nähe, der über die Ufer treten könnte, nur ein kleiner Bach. Extreme Starkregenereignisse kommen zudem äußerst selten vor und sind sehr kleinräumig. Da wird es uns schon nicht treffen.“ Und Hitze? „Nun ja, wir hatten ein paar heiße Sommer hin und wieder, aber das wird ja nicht jedes Mal so sein. Hoffen wir mal, dass der nächste moderat wird. Andere Länder, gerade im Süden, wie Spanien, Italien, Griechenland oder Afrika, die haben dagegen tatsächlich zunehmend ernste Probleme“ so höre ich es noch oft, wenn ich mit Freunden, Bekannten und Kund:innen über die Risiken den Klimawandels spreche.

Stimmt das? Oder verschließen wir nur die Augen vor den Risiken?

Ja, es kann sein, dass uns jahre- oder jahrzehntelang kein extremes Starkregenereignis trifft, genauso gut kann es aber schon im nächsten Jahr passieren. Der Trend ist, dass diese Ereignisse immer öfter und häufig stärker auftreten werden als in der Vergangenheit. Als die normalerweise gemächlich dahinplätschernden Ahr erst einmal zu einem reißenden Fluss mit 5 Metern Tiefe geworden war, wie dies im Juli 2021 geschah, war es zu spät, noch vorbeugende Maßnahmen zu ergreifen. Und auch die Hitze im Sommer wird bleiben. Was wir bisher als extremen Ausreißer erlebt haben, wird der Normalzustand sein. Wie ging es uns im letzten Sommer? Wer hat nicht zuhause oder auf der Arbeit geschwitzt und fühlte sich schlapp. Rund 4500 Menschen starben in Deutschland 2022 an den Folgen der Hitze und es war noch nicht einmal der wärmste Sommer hierzulande. Manch Unternehmen konnte seine Produktion nicht betreiben, da die Maschinen zu heiß liefen, der Mörtel am Bau zu schnell trocknen würde oder kein geeignetes Kühlwasser für Kraftwerke verfügbar war. Kohle und andere Güter konnten auf dem Rhein wegen Niedrigwasser nur noch eingeschränkt transportiert werden und die benötigte Kapazität stand auf der Straße nicht zur Verfügung. Die Liste der Risiken ist lang.

Letztendlich trifft uns der Klimawandel alle selbst dort, wo wir uns noch verhältnismäßig sicher fühlen. Wenn es zu Versorgungs- und Lieferengpässen kommt, weil Produkte in ihren Herkunftsregionen nicht mehr aufgrund von Überschwemmungen oder Trockenheit ausreichend produziert werden können, die Lieferketten und Verkehrswege blockiert sind, sind lange Wartezeiten, Produktionsausfälle und hohe Preise die Konsequenz.

In einer kürzlich veröffentlichten KfW-Meldung heißt es “Befragungsergebnisse aus dem KfW Klimabarometer zeigen, dass sich (nur) 41% der Unternehmen in Deutschland aktuell (15%) oder perspektivisch (26%) von den negativen Folgen des Klimawandel betroffen sehen. Dementsprechend hat auch nur ein Teil (14%) bereits Maßnahmen zur Anpassung an den Klimawandel umgesetzt.“ und das obwohl „Je nach Ausmaß der Erderwärmung rechnet eine jüngst vom BMWK veröffentlichte Studie bis 2050 mit weiteren klimawandelbedingten volkswirtschaftlichen Schäden in der Größenordnung von 280 bis 900 Mrd. EUR für den Fall, dass nicht gegengesteuert wird. Dabei stellen die ermittelten Werte nur eine Untergrenze dar, da Klimawirkungen, die nicht monetär bewertbar sind, in der Kostenrechnung nicht berücksichtigt wurden.”

Es ist wohl doch an der Zeit, sich zu überlegen, wie und wo wir überall betroffen sein könnten und was wir dagegen unternehmen können. Oder wäre das viel zu teuer? Darüber mehr in einem der nächsten Blogartikel. 

P.S. Geschrieben habe ich diesen Artikel vor einem Jahr. Der nächste Sommer naht und laut dem DWD Witterungsvorhersagen wird es wieder heiß. Sind Unternehmen und Bürgerinnen und Bürger besser vorbereitet? Ich fürchte nicht, denn mit dem vergangenen Herbst war die Hitze wieder aus dem Sinn.

Kürzlich hörte ich die Präsentation eines Klimaschutzmanagers einer mittelgroßen Stadt zu ihrem Beratungsangebot, das Unternehmen dabei unterstützt, sich an Folgen des Klimawandels anzupassen. Ich fand das Angebot bemerkenswert, zumal das Thema Klimaanpassung in Unternehmen mir weder bei Städten noch bei Unternehmen so richtig angekommen zu sein scheint. Die Nachfrage ist bisher gering, aber zumindest hatte bisher ein Unternehmen konkret um Rat gefragt. Dessen Problem bestand in einer großen Hitzebelastung der Büros hervorgerufen durch eine ausgedehnte Glasfassade. Das Klimaschutzmanagement der Stadt empfahl nun als Maßnahme die Entfernung des Asphalts auf der Fläche vor dem Gebäude und deren Begrünung.

I recently heard a presentation by a climate manager of a medium-sized city on their advisory services to help companies adapt to the impacts of climate change. I thought it was a great offer, especially since the topic of adapting businesses has not really been established with cities nor with businesses. Encouraging: one company had already used the service and asked for specific advice. The company's problem was a high heat load in their offices caused by an extensive glass façade. The city's climate management recommended that the area in front of the building should be freed from asphalt and planted with greenery.

"There is no river nearby that could overflow its banks, only a small stream. Extreme heavy rains are also extremely rare and very small-scale. We won't be affected by that." And heat? "Well, we've had a few hot summers now and then, but it won't be like this every time. Let's hope the next one will be moderate. Other countries, especially in the south, such as Spain, Italy, Greece or Africa, are actually experiencing increasingly serious problems," is what I often hear when I talk to friends, acquaintances and customers about the risks of climate change.

Is that true? Or are we just closing our eyes to the risks?

Yes, we may not be hit by extreme heavy rainfall for years or decades, but it could just as easily happen next year. The trend is that these events will become more frequent and often more severe than in the past. Once a normally leisurely rippling Ahr became a raging river with a depth of 5 meters, as happened in July 2021, it was too late to take preventive measures. And the summer heat is here to stay. What we have experienced so far as an extreme exception will be the new normal. How did we cope last summer? Who didn't sweat at home or at work and felt exhausted. Around 4500 people died in Germany in 2022 as a result of the heat, and it wasn't even the hottest summer in this country. Many companies could not operate its production because the machines were running too hot, the mortar on the construction site would dry too quickly or no suitable cooling water was available for power plants. Coal and other goods could only be transported on the Rhine to a limited extent due to low water, and the required capacity was not available on the roads. The list of risks is long.

Ultimately, climate change affects us all even in places where we still feel relatively safe. When supply and delivery bottlenecks occur because products can no longer be adequately produced in their regions of origin due to flooding or drought, and supply chains and transport routes are blocked, the consequences are long waiting times, production stoppages and high prices.

It is probably time after all to consider how and where we could be affected everywhere and what we can do about it. Or would that be far too expensive? More about that in one of the next blog articles.

that may sound sensible, because if we can't stop climate change, then we should fully concentrate on climate adaptation, right? What other choice do we have? You may look at it that way, 

But 

if we cease all efforts to mitigate climate change, we will end up with a 4 or even more degree scenario instead of the targeted 1.5-2 degrees increase of global temperature. Even the latter will lead to considerable climate risks here and worldwide. Events such as the disastrous flooding event in the Ahr-Valley in Germany in 2021 or the droughts of 2018, 2019 and 2022 will no longer be isolated incidents but will become part of our everyday lives.  In the summer of 2003 alone, around 70,000 people died from the heatwave in Europe. One doesn’t want to imagine the scenarios for an even higher temperature increase.  Finding and financing climate adaptation measures for these effects could  then be almost impossible and extremely costly. Especially people , companies, cities and regions that have less resources available will no longer be able to adapt sufficiently.

Das mag sich sinnvoll anhören, denn wenn wir schon den Klimawandel nicht aufhalten können, dann sollten wir uns voll auf die Klimaanpassung konzentrieren, oder? Was bleibt uns auch anderes übrig? Das könnte man so sehen, 

Aber, 

wenn wir alle Anstrengungen zum Schutz des Klimas zurücknehmen, landen wir bei einem 4 oder noch mehr Grad-Szenario statt der angestrebten 1,5-2 Grad globalen Temperaturanstiegs. Bereits letztere führen zu erheblichen Klimarisiken hier und weltweit. Ereignisse wir 2021 im Ahrtal oder die Dürrejahre 2018, 2019, 2022 werden nicht mehr Einzelereignisse sein, sondern zu unserem Alltag werden. Circa 70 000 Menschen starben allein im Sommer 2003 an der Hitzewelle in Europa. Man mag sich die Szenarien für einen noch höheren Temperaturanstieg gar nicht ausmalen.  Maßnahmen für die Anpassung an diese Folgen des Klimawandels zu finden und zu finanzieren wird dann kaum noch möglich sein und extrem viel kosten. Gerade finanziell schwächere Personen, Unternehmen, Städte und Regionen werden nicht mehr in der Lage sein, sich ausreichend anzupassen. 

Ja,

wir haben Glühbirnen durch LED-Lampen ausgetauscht, energieeffizientere Geräte und Maschinen angeschafft und die Raumtemperatur heruntergeregelt. All das trägt zur Minderung unserer Treibhausgasemissionen bei und dämmt den Klimawandel ein. Wir haben uns an die neue Situation angepasst.

Aber,

das ist keine Klimaanpassung oder lang gesagt: keine Anpassung an die Folgen des Klimawandels. Trotz aller Bemühungen, den Klimawandel einzudämmen, im besten Fall reduzieren wir den Wandel auf global 1,5 Grad Temperaturanstieg. Das ist immer noch eine erhebliche Änderung des Klimas, wie wir es derzeit kennen. Gerade auf der Nordhalbkugel und über den Kontinenten fällt die Erhöhung sogar noch höher aus. Das treibt den Wasserkreislauf an und führt zum Meeresspiegelanstieg und mehr Extremereignissen, wie Hitzewellen, Starkregenüberschwemmungen, Sturmfluten als auch Dürren. Das Klima in der Region um Frankfurt am Main wird in Kürze dem entsprechen, was bisher für Mailand galt.

Gegen diese unvermeidlichen Klimwandelfolgen helfen Energiesparmaßnahmen nicht wirklich. Dazu müssen wir Kühlung für unsere Städte und Gebäude finden, lernen, sowohl mit Wasserknappheit klarzukommen als auch uns vor Überschwemmungen zu schützen, Nahrungsmittel anders zu produzieren oder aus anderen Regionen zu beziehen usw. Klimaschutz und Klimaanpassung sind zwei sehr unterschiedliche Strategien, mit dem Klimawandel umzugehen, und beide werden benötigt. Klimaanpassung erfordert völlig andere Maßnahmen als die, die wir bereits zum Klimaschutz ergriffen haben. Und… sie schützen uns ganz konkret und unmittelbar selbst - hier vor Ort, jetzt und zukünftig.

Yes, 

we have replaced light bulbs with LED bulbs, bought more energy-efficient equipment and machines, and turned down our room temperature. All this helps to reduce our greenhouse gas emissions and to curb climate change. We have adapted to the new situation. 

But,

this is not climate change adaptation or, in longhand, adaptation to the consequences of climate change. Despite all efforts to mitigate climate change, at best we are reducing the change to a global temperature increase of 1.5 degrees. That is still a significant change in the climate as we currently know it. Especially in the northern hemisphere and over the continents, the increase is even higher. This drives the water cycle and leads to sea level rise and more extreme events, such as heat waves, heavy rain floods, storm surges as well as droughts. The climate in my region around Frankfurt am Main in Germany will soon be the same as the current climate in Milan in Italy.

Energy-saving measures do not really help against these unavoidable climate change impacts. We need to find ways to cool our cities and buildings, learn to cope with water scarcity as well as to protect ourselves from floods, grow food differently or source it from other regions, etc. Climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation are two different strategies to deal with climate change and both are needed. Climate adaptation requires completely different measures than those we have already taken to mitigate climate change. And... these measures protect ourselves very concretely and directly - here at our place, now and in the future.

Neue Ideen aus dem GreenQuays-Projekt gehen über die ursprünglichen Pläne hinaus.

Ich habe bereits früher über das GreenQuays-Projekt der EU Initiative Urban Innovative Action in Breda gesprochen, bei dem die Stadt ihren alten Fluss wieder ausgräbt und eine neue Technologie zur Begrünung der vertikalen Kaimauer entwickelt - die Nature-Inclusive Quays (NIQ). Hier werden Pflanzen direkt in den Fugen und Nischen der Mauer wachsen, wie sie es oft spontan in alten, verwitterten Mauern tun. Als UIA-Experte berate ich die Stadt.

Während die meisten innovativen Aufgaben zur Planung der Kais und der Erprobung verschiedener technischer Lösungen abgeschlossen sind, werden die GreenQuays jetzt ausgeführt.  Das bedeutet jedoch nicht, dass der innovative Teil der Arbeit auf Eis liegt und alle auf die Ergebnisse der fertiggestellten Kais warten, die im Sommer nächsten Jahres gebaut sein werden. Bei meinen häufigen Gesprächen mit Projektpartnern in den letzten Monaten wurde ich auf interessante Nebenentwicklungen aufmerksam, die über das GreenQuays-Projekt hinausgehen, insbesondere bei zwei Partnern, die stark an der Entwicklung der NIQ Technologie gearbeitet haben: Koen Mulder von der Universität Delft, der für die Erprobung verschiedener Wandmaterialien und -designs auf dem kleinen Testgelände des Projekts in den Jahren 2020-2022 verantwortlich war, und Erwin van Herwijnen von Tree Ground Solutions, der Lösungen gefunden hat, um kleine Bäume aus den Kaimauern wachsen zu lassen. 

Lesen Sie weiter über 

• Die Suche nach dem besten Substrat für das Wachstum von Pflanzen in beengten Wurzelräumen und
• Drystack wall Systemen

 in meinem UIA Artikel. 

New ideas from the GreenQuays project start stretching beyond the initial plans.

I have already talked earlier about the GreenQuays project of EU Urban Innovative Action in Breda, where the city daylights its old river and develops a new technology to green the vertical quay wall - the Nature-Inclusive Quays (NIQ). Here, plants will grow directly in the joints and niches on the wall, as they often do spontaneously in/on old, weathered walls. As an UIA expert, I advise the city here.

While most of the innovative tasks of planning the quays and testing different technical solutions have finished, GreenQuays focuses on the physical work of constructing now.  This does, however, not mean that the innovative part of the work is on hold, and everybody is waiting for the results of the established quays that will have been built in summer next year? During my frequent talks with project partners over the last months, I got aware of interesting side-developments going beyond the GreenQuays project with two partners, who had worked hard on the foundation of the NIQ: Koen Mulder from the University of Delft, who has been responsible for testing different wall materials and designs at the project’s small-scale test site from 2020-2022 and Erwin van Herwijnen from Tree Ground Solutions, who found the solutions to grow small trees out of the quay walls. 

Read on 

• Finding the best substrate for plants to grow in constraint environments and
• Dry stack wall systems 

 in my UIA article. 

Reducing energy costs during heatwaves and maintaining work performance

Yesterday, a colleague called me - 32 degrees Celsius in his office, but only 24 degrees in mine. How can that be? Germany, Europe is suffering from heatwaves this summer and discussions on  climate change are once again up with people and governments. Apart from the general and very serious consequences such as cardiovascular problems, heat stroke, death of people, and further fuelling devastating forest fires, the heat represents a considerable risk for companies too. From about 24 degrees Celsius, work performance decreases - at 30 degrees by almost 9 percent - and affects even healthy and young people. Especially workers outside, such as roofers, road and construction workers, are exposed to high temperatures; but also in offices, production and storage places, and shops the heat accumulates. 

In this context, the German legislation specifies in the Technical Regulation for Workplaces that the temperature in workspaces should not exceed 26 degrees Celsius as a matter of principle. From 30 degrees on, the employer must take measures, and 35 degrees is the upper limit. Here, heat work can only be performed by means of very special measures, such as protective suits. 

So, what can companies do? 

As some of you may know, I am part of the technical evaluation team for the European Green Capital and the European Green Leaf Award, responsible to look at cities’ climate change adaptation actions. Usually, that means ...

I was on a journey from Frankfurt to North Rhine-Westfalia on 15 July and wondering about massive delays and cuts in train travel before I learned that the night before, super heavy rainfall led have posed torrential floods in parts of Germany. More than 180 people died, homes, roads, and other infrastructure has been washed away in the unprecedent flooding, and with it, people’s and businesses’ existences – while I was just struggling with a few hours of delay. 

How could that happen in Germany? Yes, we as experts knew that it could (theoretically), but seeing the real pictures left me speechless. How to clean up whole towns and recover after such impact? It needs to go fast as people suffer and the winter is about to come. Despite all efforts, even basic infrastructure is still fragile in the region. The federal government has set up 30 billion EUR in support of the recovery, and insurances (as long as you have had one against such events) are paid. 

Speeding up in repairing is urgently needed. At the same time, I worry how this may be done. Does it always make sense to rebuild at the same places and in the same way? Climate experts predict that such extreme events will happen far more often in the future and as it gets harder and harder to reach the Paris 1.5 degree target, these predictions will get even worse. What will happen with these houses during the next flooding? Can we really expect that once they are rebuilt, some kind of added public measures (which?) will provide sufficient protection even for the ones built close to smaller and bigger streams? Could measures like retention basins be built at scale? Can sufficient space be found for them? …

I am very happy to collaborate with the municipality of Breda and its partners on developing nature-inclusive quays (NIQ) in the GreenQuays project. It is exciting to see how an old and covered river will be daylighted and bring a lot of nature into the dense medieval city centre. The scarce space imposes, however, a big challenge. The river will flow through vertical quay walls. One could think of greening them like green facades, but Breda has different intentions. Inspired by nature that invades relict industrial and urban areas, this process should be mimicked here, offering even endangered native species a place in the city. How could that work? How to construct the walls and will the plants grow as supposed? Check the first steps on the journey and which solutions the team has already found out so far in these short and illustrative articles below. The final design stands, and later this year, the digging will start bringing the quays to life. 

Nature-based solutions are becoming quite popular for cities as they are able to deliver many benefits – providing space for nature, for leisure and sports activities, play and social interaction, they increase people’s health, make cities attractive, and reduce the impacts of flooding and heat waves. Greater Manchester has identified that a major uplift of its green infrastructure can substantially contribute to reducing these risks. But how to implement nature-based solutions at large scale, when there is the austerity of public budgets and grant funding? With its IGNITION project, that I am proud to support as UIA expert, the region explores innovative options based on co-creating, co-financing and other schemes. What do these concepts need to be really put in practice? Check out IGNITION’s findings in the articles and podcast below.

Image: Pixabay / Georgi

It was raining slightly, and I was on the way to my first meetings with team members of the EU Urban Innovative Action project GreenQuays in Breda, The Netherlands, that I am happy to support as external expert. Actually, I should be writing about the inspiring project on the nature-inclusive quays and I definitely will!!! However, as for this morning, other urban green caught my attention: 

How often have I heard already that green in narrow and historical streets is difficult to establish or simply not possible? But look at Breda‘s streets ...! With just a few square centimetres and a wire, they got it green.  It does not only look so much nicer, I find it also fits the old buildings well, without harming them. That‘s a nice way to go. Later, I have learned that there is a municipal programme in place to encourage and advice citizens on small private gardens and greening elements. It seems to work.

Finding innovative solutions goes beyond business as usual approaches, though the driving partner might lack the specific skills and expertise required. A way forward is to team up with other partners and search jointly for Solutions. Hence, many UIA projects engage with a wide range of Partners, but how can they collaborate effectively?

In the case of IGNITION, which aims to develop innovative financing models for delivering nature-based solutions for climate-resilience, 12 partners ...

>> Read my article on the Website of the Urban Innovative Action (UIA).

My arrival in Manila (Philippines) on a Monday evening to join the project team as part of my adaptation contract with the Asian Development Bank became more challenging than previously thought. After a long flight, I just had to catch a taxi for the last 10km from the airport to my hotel.  It is the usual way of transport as public transport isn’t properly developed there. But … it took me more than 1.5 hours to get there. I could probably have walked there, if high air pollution and missing or insufficient sidewalks wouldn’t have made it a very unpleasant to walk.

What could be better to show the urgency for action than holding the annual European Urban Resilience Forum at 38 degrees Celsius in Bonn on 25 June 2019. Despite the heat (or because of the heat?), we have had many inspiring discussions between cities on how to implement climate change adaptation action. Also, I was excited that we could bring smaller municipalities more into focus.  Usually, we see action in middle-sized and big cities, but smaller ones need to adapt as well. In a specific session, I explored together with colleagues from the towns of Weiz (Austria), Coswig (Germany), Urbino (Italy) and others the challenges and barriers of smaller municipalities.

Low capacities 

The first argument that came up was that there is hardly any staff capacity available - if any. In Coswig, for example, Olaf Lier and Maria Gruber from the Regulatory office of the city took on the task to take care of frequent flooding issues – not really fitting in the task profile of the office, but they act! Urbino collaborates with Andrea Carosi, an external expert on adaptation and heritage, and in Weiz: climate change adaptation is one amongst Barbara Kulmer’s many tasks, who is responsible for energy, mobility and environment. Staff members of small municipalities are seldom adaptation experts; however, when disaster strikes, like a flood event in Coswig and Weiz, they have to act. While searching for solutions and implementing first action, they build up knowledge and capacities in parallel. Much depends on the personal engagement of staff. In this process, regional authorities like Styria in the case of Weiz, or regional initiatives, like the LIFE -projects LocalAdapt for Weiz and Coswig or SecAdapt for Urbino, have provided important support in the form of knowledge and capacities. The wheel doesn’t need to be invented again and again by each small town itself; capacities can be bundled in a regional support. 

I can’t say it often enough. They are so delightful. I have just enjoyed their usefulness in the heat in Barcelona while on holiday. I am always impressed by the city’s focus on trees. So many trees and indeed you can feel the difference in temperature. The city’s administration and citizens have understood how trees can help them to reduce heat loads. Other cities follow the example, like Milan, which has announced to plant 3 million trees until 2030.

What a nice sunny Sunday morning in spring time! We had our first breakfast this year on the balcony. Everyone seems to be eager to get a piece of sunshine these days. But there are also sad things going on. My neighbours have taken down a big tree, the second within the two years that I have lived here. Now they sit on their fully tiled courtyard to enjoy the spring time sun. At the same time, some of my neighbours at the site where we are building our new house, asked me when we will take down the big tree on our ground??? Why should I? Well, it is a birch and it makes so much dirt, was the answer. Oh, these terrible trees - only dirt, wilderness and shadow. I do not have words for.

A new year has started and quite a lot of us have taken the chance to commit to some kind of personal change, whether it is a healthier lifestyle, spending more time with the family or making changes in your career.  While the first few days work out fine, at some point we will face resistance, and far too often, return to old patterns. We might have underestimated the work that change needs, or have wanted too much in too short a time, so we start to play down the need for change and find excuses why change doesn’t work for us. On my subject of climate change adaptation, I have found interesting parallels. 

Ok. Actually, today I‘m talking about Germany. Especially, after a hot summer like the last one and a seemingly endless drought in many parts of the country, it seems clear to me that we all have to do something for climate change mitigation and climate change adaptation. Only then, we can maintain the quality of life and economic power in our cities, towns and regions. Climate change mitigation and adaptation are the foundations of general public services which the state and municipalities must guarantee; but ...

While more and more people are becoming aware that we urgently have to act on our climate and its current and future impacts, often, the road to action is still long. Large cities and other stakeholders often have their own climate change adaptation strategy, but in particular smaller ones mostly see the challenges and barriers: lacking staff capacities, time and resources, other things are more important at the moment, etc. These arguments may be justified or partly just a personal perception - after all, a few smaller municipalities demonstrate that climate change mitigation and adaptation are indeed possible. However, one argument, which I have only been told behind closed doors, shocks me.

One could assume this and I am delighted that, together with the adelphi team, we have reached an important milestone in our project "Successfully connected in Europe – shaping cities and regions together" on behalf of the German ministry responsible for urban development. The borough of Lörrach and Weil am Rhein, the Geopark Vulkaneifel, the cities of Gudensberg and Munich have just been selected as the winners of the competition, which is an important part of this project. Congratulations! 

Why networking across Europe?

The participants in the competition clearly responded that they see added value from their networking activities, in particular, through the exchange of experience and knowledge that brings new ideas. European networking promotes discovering common solutions, enhancement of competencies and better access to EU funding. Following these networking activities, cities and regions can increase their attractiveness and local economy, e.g. by boosting tourism or through new business relationships/collaborations.

But…

In addition to the obligatory day-to-day business, networking across Europe is not a matter of course, especially, in many smaller and medium-sized cities and municipalities in Germany. While bilateral city partnerships with mutual visits and youth exchanges are relatively widespread and many border regions also cooperate with their direct neighbours; in the last decade, only around 500 of the approximately 11,000 German cities and municipalities and almost 85 regions actually took part in a broader multilateral exchange with several European partners through projects or network initiatives. As expected, large cities are already well connected, while with small towns with under 10 000 inhabitants, the proportion is only about 1%.

An opportunity for weaker and peripheral regions

In absolute terms, there are large differences in regional distribution: as expected, big cities and metropolitan areas are well connected, while northern and north-eastern Germany and parts of central Germany and Bavaria show little European connectivity. Most border regions focus on cross-border cooperation only.

However, if one considers the number of networking municipalities in relation to the number of inhabitants per federal state, also low-income states, such as Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania and Schleswig-Holstein, can compete with densely populated states such as Bavaria or Baden-Württemberg. Same, the per capita GDP in the federal states is not correlated with the degree of European networking. Municipalities in economically equally or higher rated states reveal, in some cases, less networking activities per inhabitant. It is possible that European networking in particular offers opportunities for low-income and peripheral municipalities to improve their attractiveness and economic performance.

But why is it ...

that so far only a few cities and municipalities seize these opportunities? And what could encourage more networking? The influencing factors are multifaceted, such as political will, language skills and cultural competencies, sometimes lengthy and complex application procedures or lack of staff and budget resources. As part of the further work, we examine these in depth. I would therefore be very happy if you could share your experiences in your country or EU with me. Thank you very much!

Last month, I attended the Congress for National Urban Development Policy in Germany where urban densification was one of the topics. Many cities - in Germany and elsewhere - have become more attractive again, not only as a place for businesses but also to live in. They are experiencing high migration rates and intensive construction activity. The topic of densification is more relevant than ever. In terms of sustainability, this is much appreciated - with multi-storey apartment buildings, we consume less space and energy, drive less kilometres by car and use more public transport.  Ten years ago, I made a strong case for compact cities. However since I've been working on adaption to climate change, I have been having some doubts. We need urban green and ventilation!?

Sure, we also need open, undeveloped space outside the cities as compensation and cold air creation areas. Extensive urban sprawl through single-family housing estates cannot be the counter-model. But how far can densification go in the city? At what point is it still liveable? During discussions at the congress, participants would argue for a limited degree of densification if, at the same time, sufficient green space would be offered. Simply following the ‘business as usual’ approach with a few gradual adjustments would encounter boundaries. What we need instead is a transformation in urban planning. We need to rethink functions and priorities in our cities if they are to remain liveable and attractive despite climate change.

Most of us probably appreciate green roofs as a clever adaptation action that has not just many additional benefits but can be simply nice. We know inspiring examples from Basel, Malmö, Copenhagen, Rotterdam, Frankfurt and many other cities. So I was wondering, when I flew in to Valencia at the beginning of summer and saw all the empty flat roof tops: What a wasted potential!

The next morning I walked from my hotel to the meeting venue and enjoyed the fresh air of the huge park of the City of Science and Arts in the heart of Valencia. What a relief from heat! However, I was wondering where the water for these very green loans would come from during these hot summers in the Mediterranean. Indeed, when I asked my Spanish colleagues a bit later they confirmed to me that the supply is somehow challenging. Actually, they use non-potable water as Valencia has a double network that delivers also water of lower quality for other purposes. This sounds good, but still this water comes also from the aquifer and its abstraction stresses fresh water resources.

Usually, we wish us a nice summer here, but for weeks it is just hot and hotter here in the Frankfurt am Main area and else in Germany. Day temperatures around 35 degree became the new normal these weeks. Ok, some southern countries have even more. So, we probably should not complain so much? The main difference to southern European cities is that we are not prepares and can hardly get any relief. Apartments are heated up and night temperatures are too high to cool them down. Private air condition is not common and very expansive. So there is hardly any escape.

As such summer will be the new normal in a couple of years, we really have to rethink how we deal with the situation without making it worse by just individual and spontaneous response in heating our climate even further up with lots of single air conditionings requiring additional energy. What can we do to keep the heat out of the apartments and where can we find cool and accessible places? In my town it is just the two small supermarkets. Maybe, we can map, which places else are available or open places? I noticed the S-trains are climatised. Maybe I should by a day ticket and work from there?

It strikes me always to see how little awareness and practical knowledge is with people, house owners, enterprises or operators. With the nice summer weather in the centre and northern part of Europe over the last weeks, I had quite some reminders where we stand in everyday reality: ...

Some years ago, the German government introduced a funding scheme for municipalities enabling them to employ a climate change mitigation manager. The scheme became increasingly popular. However, there had not been a similar funding programme for climate change adaptation managers yet. Nevertheless, one can observe that an increasing number of municipalities report that they are actively implementing adaptation measures as well. Sounds good. Are we on the safe side?

Back in 2009, I was among the first members of the evaluation team of the European Green Capital Award (EGCA), when it was initiated by the European Commission. While I was happy to see the attention of the European Commission for the urban environment, at a time, when this issue was hardly handled at the European level, I also had some doubts: Does it make sense to add another award? There are many city rankings going on and you hear all over the place:  “the best city is …”, “the most livable city is …”. What value will the EGCA provide to cities? Will there at all be enough cities applying for an award for which they do not get any price money but would commit to a year full of communication actions and events?

“Adaptation problem recognised. Let’s get started with adaptation! We take a guidance tool and follow it… But oops...!? There are incredible many guidance tools! Which one is actually the best for us? How can we find out? We want to make a clever choice of course.” Does that situation sound somehow familiar to you?

Your city in 2040: How will you, your friends and neighbours live given all these upcoming changes in demography, lifestyle, technology, climate …? How will life look like in more than 20 years? What will be the headlines in the local news? These were the questions I asked young citizens at the age of 18-23 years in two visioning workshops, which I organised in the city of Hofheim am Taunus in Germany. The feedback surprised me. First, there did not come up any ideas about the future!? These guys have rarely thought about it yet. Next, rather dark visions came up.

Or is there a way for towns and rural municipalities too?

It was, when I attended a conference on climate change adaptation in Hessen, one of the German Federal States, that  learned about inspiring activities and progress here at my current place of living. Even specific funding for implementing of adaptation action is available. While strolling around in the sun at lunch break, I came to chat with a colleague from a tiny municipality. She told me that it sounds all very well - the activities presented and the availability of funding. But how can you benefit from these when you are small, do not know how to start, where to get the necessary data and knowledge for to start even developing a funding application? How can they, left with no adaptation capacities but with regular flooding problems, get on?

How often have I heard the message from cities and other stakeholders “We would like to act, but we do not have the financial resources to do climate change adaptation action”? I cannot count it, but it pops up again and again.

Do you really need money to start action?

What would you do with a bunch of money suddenly dropping on your table? Would you know, where and how to invest that best? Do citizens, politicians and other stakeholder go along with your ideas? ...

I was just sitting together with a colleague of the planning department of a smaller city in Hessen Germany. It is quite well positioned in terms of sustainability, but when I asked how they are prepared for climate change impacts…

‘?! ehmmm?!…  Yes, of course, we have green areas and try to keep these. For flood protection, the regional government is rather responsible.’ 

No, there was not any word about climate change and possible impacts in the latest version of the city planning document or somewhere else. And it was just the night before that the neighbour municipality was hit by a tremendous thunderstorm leading to flooding of many basements and falling of many trees. That didn’t seem to make any impact on the perception of climate impacts.

Leegebruch is a small place with 6500 inhabitants close to Berlin, a neighbour village of my hometown that I passed frequently as a child. There was nothing special about the place, but suddenly I find it in many German newspapers. What happened? On 29 June up to 250 litres per square meter of rainwater poured down over Berlin and its surroundings. The area of Leegebruch was hit particular hard.  In addition, it suffered much longer from flooding than other towns and villages nearby. Days later many parts were still under water. What was the reason?

Last week, I took a break from adaptation work. J I enjoyed four days of rock festival in Southern Sweden. Days with great music, some 33 000 mostly nice people and luck with having lots of sunshine despite the usual low Swedish summer temperatures. But then on the way back, we got stacked in the little town. The small train station was packed with folks form many nations, lots of baggage, but the train didn't arrive. It was postponed by 10 minutes, then 15, 20 and so. Nothing moved. We got to know that the last piece to our station was closed until further notice. Strangely, the train from the opposite direction was neither allowed to come up, although that part wasn't blocked. So what? ...

… and sometimes, adaptation to climate might not even have been the purpose. While cycling today to our neighbouring municipality, I made these pictures. Areas along the streets and a private garden flourish wonderfully with wild and semi-wild flowers. Thereby, they allow excessive rainwater to drain into the ground. The extensive green roof on the garage can also store water and delay its discharge if needed. Bees and other insects were humming around…

I am just back from another Open European Day at the Resilient Cities conference in Bonn. Already for the fourth time, this became a great interactive event - and brand, I would say. Five years ago, we designed it as a day in which European cities could talk to their colleagues in other cities and explore their challenges and solutions to deal with climate change impacts. The event is different from many other conferences of its kind. It lives from the lively interaction of its participants. Very special: the day does not entail any presentation but lots of workshops, interactive sessions and time for free exchange and networking. As one of the initiators of this event series, I was overwhelmed by the great dedication of the participants and the appreciation they expressed for having that helpful event. It seems that this day really fills a niche in the broader adaptation discussion in Europe. Still, there is one thing that puzzles me…

It was just last weekend that I discussed with my husband, which fruit trees we want to grow in our new garden. The weather was so nicely warm over the last weeks. Most lunch breaks, I spent outside on the balcony. The trees were covered over and over with blossoms. It seemed to be the perfect time to discuss the choice of apple, plum and cherry trees we want to plant. And then, I came and said that these trees should also be resistant against freeze. I think, my husband got quite irritated, now that we moved to the part of Germany that will hottest in the country.

Hello!

Here I am and have for long thought about the best way to share all the stories that come frequently to my mind. As you might know, I work in the nexus of environment – cities  - climate change adaptation and many concepts and ideas cross my way.