- Speaker - Erion Veliaj, Mayor of Tirana, Albania
- Speaker - Pablo Bereciartua, Secretary of Infrastructure and Water Policy, Argentina
Session: AIWW Conference Integrated Leaders Forum – round 2 I
Room: E102
Subsession
Table 1: Global Exchange – Integrated Planning into Practice to Benefit Urban Resilience
Case I: With a coastline stretching 690km and subject to tropical hurricanes during summer, Zhuhai is exposed to high risks of extreme weather conditions, including typhoons, heavy rainstorms and floods. Three pilot projects are designed to help Zhuhai city, one of EC-Link’s pilot cities, better understand the challenges it faces in urban resilience development, review its ability to face them and unite its people, projects, and priorities, and thus reduce vulnerabilities to expected and unexpected impacts of climate change.
Case II: With 11 million residents, Wuhan is the most populous city in Central China. The city lies at the intersection of the Yangtze and Han rivers. Flooding of the two rivers has been strongly reduced by the construction of levees and upstream reservoirs. However, urbanisation has reduced the retention capacity of the city and there is a lack of surface water and green spaces.
Discussion: What can be learned from the two programs? How can we bring integrated planning into practise? How can other Chinese cities benefit from their experiences?
Speaker - Xiaocun Ruan, East-West Urban Consultancy
Table 2: Buenos Aires Masterplan – Room for the River – Urban Development, Waste and Water.
In the Room for the River project an urban framework was developed as a pilot for the Arroyo Morón River based on the holistic approach of water and solid waste management and urban (re)development that can be considered as the Amsterdam Approach. The process was a collaborative effort involving many stakeholders including EDU and inspiration from students to trigger imagination for a cleaner river and a liveable environment. Existing or planned activities were place in a broader vision and ‘plussed’ and a strategy was developed using Scenario Planning as a tool for strategic planning.
Table 3: Utilizing parts of the security zone East of Gaza for Photovoltaic Plants
Gaza Strip (2 million people) has been suffering a chronic energy crisis with total maximum power supply of 208 MW compared with average electricity demand of 452 MW anticipated to increase to around 600 MW by 2020. In the meantime, Gaza is facing a chronic water resource challenge with energy demand of water and sanitation facilities estimated once the implementation of the water strategic plan is completed including Wastewater Treatment plants, Sea water desalination plants, recovery and reuse schemes of treated effluents, pumping and booster stations,.etc; will be in the order of 128.3 MW. The aim is solar energy utilization at East Gaza security Zone to reduce dependence on costly conventional energy sources and overcome the low reliability on fossil fuels. In spite that Gaza is limited by land availability, there is a no go zone east of Gaza which is not utilized. A 100 m from the fence east of Gaza Strip are prohibited to access, while the next 200m can be accessed but without activities and without a horizon that it can be utilized for any investment in the future. This 200m zone is the target to be negotiated with the Israeli side in order to convert it to a green economy area and be an example of cooperation, with the involvement of the private sector and financing agencies. Three PV plants are proposed of 25 MWp capacity
Table 4: RESILIO: Smart & dynamic micro water management brings blue-green roofs to life
Citizens face increased stress from extreme rainfall and heat. Dynamic rainwater buffers in blue-green roof systems can relieve this stress. RESILIO will realise 10.000 m2 of smart blue-green roof systems on social housing complexes in 5 neighbourhoods in Amsterdam, with the objective to further develop the solution and prepare to scale up. This project is co-financed by the European Regional Development Fund through the Urban Innovative Actions Initiative.
Table 8: Adaptive strategies for water heritage management
The RT will have short introductions about the:
- Evolving interest in the relevance and significance of water related heritage for planning and policy development
- Examples of water related cultural heritage and present as well as future planning and policy processes in The Netherlands
- The product and the process of the Hydro biography vis a vis the Environmental Impact Assessment
- Standardization and implementation of the hydro biography
Table 5: SDG Report
One of the possibilities is the follow up of the report that will be presented by Kees van Leeuwen: ‘The National Blueprint Framework. A starting point for water-related indicators to monitor progress on SDGs in Europe’. We are working out a follow up strategy with a focus on the gaps that are found and the way forward to narrow these gaps. One of the most important gaps that were found on national European level is dealing with on water quality, waste water treatment, nutrient and energy recovery as well as on extreme weather events and climate change. For these gaps we have facts and figures on EU country level that can be used for an approach of knowledge exchange with maximum use of European (and global) good practices. Countries that are frontrunners on a certain gap can be connected to the countries that has to invest most into actions to bridge the gap. Aim is to find out if this strategy could work for countries, river basins and/or cities.
Table 6: Building With Nature For Sustainable Port Development
Ports are often located in or near valuable ecosystems. Can we develop ports further using nature’s help and create opportunities for nature at the same time? EcoShape develops solutions for ports using the Building with Nature approach, taking ecosystem and the environment as the guiding principle. Typically the functional requirements for ports result in technical designs with hard transitions between land and water: breakwaters, vertical pile walls, deepened channels or lock complexes, for example. In the Building with Nature approach, the designer takes the ecosystem into account, which is good for both the economy and the nature in the port area. The approach begins with a sound understanding of how the local ecosystem works and how this system affects the port and its functioning. We make use of the forces of nature, such as currents and wind and plant growth. Where possible, we create room for ecosystem development in locations where the port allows it. By doing so, we encourage things like salt marsh formation and create a richer habitat for animals. In that way, port and nature development go hand in hand. How can we upscale this type of solution?
Table 7: How To Face Water Crises In The MENA-Region
Water scarcity, availability and water quality are elements of possible conflict, yet simultaneously also elements for possible cooperation and peace between countries. Nowhere in the world is this more evident than in the Middle East. With looming impacts of climate change the Middle East is extremely aware of the complexity of these issues. The round table will present the case of Iraqi water resources, as the country emerges from conflict, and will use approaches and methods developed by the MEDRC Water Research Centre to discuss possible ways forward to ensure the outcome is cooperation and sufficient water for all.
Table 9: A Global Comparison Of Blue-green Infrastructure As A Catalyst For Resilient Urban Development In 6 Major Cities
All over the world cities initiate and invest more and more in Blue-Green Infrastructure. In order to exchange expertise and experience, cities first need to be analyzed and compared. Looking at factors like risk-management, private engagement, community involvement, counting social benefits, multidisciplinary, integrated, O&M life cycle vs. not only design and construct. With 6 major cities this dialogue focus on an international comparison.
Is it useful to look at cities in this way? Can other cities join and contribute too? Do cities struggle with similar problem? How does BGI benefit to all the inhabitants?