Developing a framework for the assessment of current and future flood risk in Venice, Italy

Flooding causes serious impacts on the old town of Venice, its residents, and its cultural heritage. Despite this existence-defining condition, limited scientific knowledge on flood risk of the old town of Venice is available to support decisions to mitigate existing and future flood impacts. Therefore, this study proposes a risk assessment framework to provide a methodical and flexible instrument for decision-making for flood risk management in Venice. We first use a state-of-the-art hydrodynamic urban model to identify the hazard characteristics inside the city of Venice. Exposure, vulnerability, and corresponding damage are then modeled by a multi-parametric, micro-scale damage model which is adapted to the specific context of Venice with its dense urban structure and high risk awareness. Furthermore, a set of individual protection scenarios are implemented to account for possible variability in flood preparedness of the residents. This developed risk assessment framework was tested for the flood event of 12 November 2019 and proved able to reproduce flood characteristics and resulting damage well. A scenario analysis based on a meteorological event like 12 November 2019 was conducted to derive flood damage estimates for the year 2060 for a set of sea level rise scenarios in combination with a (partially) functioning storm surge barrier, the Modulo Sperimentale Elettromeccanico (MOSE). The analysis suggests that a functioning MOSE barrier could prevent flood damage for the considered storm event and sea level scenarios almost entirely. A partially closed MOSE barrier (open Lido inlet) could reduce the damage by up to 34 % for optimistic sea level rise prognoses. However, damage could be 10 % to 600 % higher in 2060 compared to 2019 for a partial closure of the storm surge barrier, depending on different levels of individual protection.</p

Living with climate change risks: stakeholders' employment and coastal relocation in mediterranean climate regions of Australia and Spain

Published online: 02 February 2017Climate change impacts are no longer just a future issue for communities in the Mediterranean climate regions. This comparative study offers insights on climate change risk perceptions and attitudes among environmental, economic and social stakeholders in coastal areas in northeastern Spain and South Australia, as well as compares interviewed stakeholders’ risk perceptions with available documentary data and participant observation. Using a community risk assessment approach, the results show that some stakeholders perceive that climate change is already and/or may further continue to affect their employment, mostly in a predominantly negative way. Interestingly, some other interviewed stakeholders consider that climate change creates opportunities through new and additional areas of work. The findings also suggest that climate change may influence relocation of coastal residential populations in both case studies, which is likely to be an acceptable option among the stakeholders. This acceptance can be linked to the fact that in both areas there is a significant percentage of resident population with migrant background. This study calls for a need to understand better the personal experience of climate change in industrialized countries, as well as to consider coastal relocation in the integrated coastal planning and other territorial and population policies.Sandra Fatorić, Ricard Morén-Alegret, Rhiannon Jane Niven, George Ta

Increasing the Resilience of Cultural Heritage to Climate Change Through the Application of a Learning Strategy

There is growing concern about the threat posed by climate change to cultural heritage, notably to World Heritage properties. Climate change is triggering changes in rainfall patterns, humidity and temperature, as well as increasing exposure to severe weather events that can negatively impact on cultural heritage materials and structures by enhancing the mechanical, chemical and biological processes causing degradation. In response to this climate change challenge, the Climate for Culture (CfC) project, funded by the European Commission, investigated the impacts of climate change on the European cultural heritage through the use of a high-resolution regional climate model that projected future changes in climatic conditions, and simulated the future conditions of the interiors of historical buildings and their impacts on the collections they hold using building simulation tools. This paper compares the climate change impacts on cultural heritage identified by the CfC project with semi-structured interviews with experts working on cultural heritage preservation in Norway, Italy and the UK. Hence, the perceptions of the cultural heritage community on the impacts of climate change on heritage assets are first explored, which are then compared with the risk matrices produced by the CfC project as a decision-support tool to inform managers involved in the preservation of cultural heritage. In addition, the learning strategy underpinning examples of climate change adaptive measures applied to cultural heritage is discussed. Through the identification of the current learning strategy in the case study sites, this research highlights the lack of dissemination of the outcomes of scientific research to managers of cultural heritage in the context of adaptation to climate change impacts

Decolonizing climate change-heritage research

Climate change poses a threat to heritage globally. Decolonial approaches to climate change–heritage research and practice can begin to address systemic inequities, recognize the breadth of heritage and strengthen adaptation action globally