Climatescafe: Our urban and rural environment (rivers, cities) are becoming increasingly vulnerable for climate change and there is an urgent need to become more resilient. Climatecafe developed the city- and riverscans methodology to measure, map, scan and assess different parameters that give insight in the vulnerability of a defined urban or rural area.
Climatecafe involves the development of a set of measurement tools that can be applied in different areas in a low-cost low-tech approach with teams of stakeholders and practitioners. Climatecafe uses storytelling and sketching as methods to connect stakeholders, motivate action, evoke recognition in a jointly formulated goal, such as taking climate action. The climatecafe method was tested in different areas around the globe in groups of young professionals and stakeholders in rapid urban appraisals.
Climatecafe is developed by Groningen and Rotterdam University of Applied Sciences to gather factual and objective data in a short period of time (1-2 weeks) by young professionals and practitioners that enable them to assess the ‘level of resilience’ of a specific area. The city climate scan method aims to use low-cost and low-tech tools and instruments. Parameters that are assessed in riverscans and cityscans: urban heat (temperature), urban water quality (several parameters as: nutrients, chlorophyll, oxygen), air quality (several parameters), urban floods (infiltration capacity) and waste pollution (plastic waste). Storytelling is recently added as a successful method to collect subjective data such as the opinion and perspective of the community and integrate these data in the climate scan results.
CityScan method: Triple helix collaboration
The first step in the ‘Analyze, ambition, act’ adaptation strategy is identification of bottlenecks in areas such as flooding, drought, and heat. International exploratory city scans were set up in order to put the necessary steps in place to go from ‘analyze’ to ‘action’. During a scan, an international team works together in a ‘triple helix’ composition (governments, companies, and knowledge and educational institutions, researchers, young professionals and students) for a short period of time, during which the status of a municipality’s climate adaptation is assessed with various stakeholders and tangible measurements and results.
Resilience in urban areas or neighborhoods
The ability to gather relevant information and measurement data in a short time frame about the level of resilience at street or urban area level makes the climate scan unique. This knowledge may help citizens and other stakeholders in urban areas or neighbourhoods to develop support for, and implement, climate adaption measures. The participating parties work together to select a variety of challenges.
DUTCH: City Scan methode
De ‘internationale city climatescan’ is een nieuwe methode om bewustwording te creëren over klimaatadaptatie. Hierbij worden de huidige status van klimaatadaptatie in een stad en de ambitie voor de komende jaren vastgelegd. De climatescan heeft veel waardevolle informatie opgeleverd en zal daarom in de nabije geïmplementeerd worden in onder andere Nederland, Polen, Indonesië en de Filipijnen.
lees meer over de city climatesan Rotterdam in H20: https://www.h2owaternetwerk.nl/vakartikelen/1664-internationale-city-climatescan-rotterdam-voorbeeld-infiltratie-in-het-stedelijk-gebied