A cost-benefit \u27<em>source-receptor</em>\u27 framework for implementation of Blue-Green flood risk management

\ua9 2024 The Author(s). As floods are a major and growing source of risk in urban areas, there is a necessity to improve flood risk management frameworks and civil protection through planning interventions that modify surface flow pathways and introduce storage. Despite the complexity of densely urbanised areas (topography, buildings, green spaces, roads), modern flood models can represent urban features and flow characteristics in order to help researchers, local authorities, and insurance companies to develop and improve efficient flood risk frameworks to achieve resilience in cities. A cost-benefit driven ‘source-receptor’ flood risk framework is developed in this study to identify (1) locations contributing to surface flooding (sources), (2) buildings and locations at high flood risk (receptors), (3) the cost-benefit nexus between the ‘source’ and the ‘receptor’, and finally (4) ways to mitigate flooding at the ‘receptor’ by adding Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) in critical locations. The analysis is based on five steps to identify the ‘source’ and the ‘receptor’ in a study area based on the flood exposure of buildings, damages arising from flooding and available green spaces with the best potential to add sustainable and resilient solutions to reduce flooding. The framework was developed using the detailed hydrodynamic model CityCAT in a case study of the city centre of Newcastle upon Tyne, UK. The novelty of this analysis is that firstly, multiple storm magnitudes (i.e. small and large floods) are used combined with a method to locate the areas and the buildings at flood risk and a prioritized set of best places to add interventions upstream and downstream. Secondly, planning decisions are informed by considering the benefit from reduced damages to properties and the cost to construct resilient BGI options rather than a restricted hydraulic analysis considering only flood depths and storages in isolation from real world economics

Flood modelling for cities using Cloud computing

Urban flood risk modelling is a highly topical example of intensive computational processing. Such processing is increasingly required by a range of organisations including local government, engineering consultancies and the insurance industry to fulfil statutory requirements and provide professional services. As the demands for this type of work become more common, then ownership of high-end computational resources is warranted but if use is more sporadic and with tight deadlines then the use of Cloud computing could provide a cost-effective alternative. However, uptake of the Cloud by such organisations is often thwarted by the perceived technical barriers to entry. In this paper we present an architecture that helps to simplify the process of performing parameter sweep work on an Infrastructure as a Service Cloud. A parameter sweep version of the urban flood modelling, analysis and visualisation software “CityCat” was developed and deployed to estimate spatial and temporal flood risk at a whole city scale – far larger than had previously been possible. Performing this work on the Cloud allowed us access to more computing power than we would have been able to purchase locally for such a short time-frame (∼21 months of processing in a single calendar month). We go further to illustrate the considerations, both functional and non-functional, which need to be addressed if such an endeavour is to be successfully achieved

Flood risk management of a small urban river using a sustainable urban drainage system: Wortley Beck, Leeds, UK

This paper explores potential flood resilience approaches for the highly urbanised Wortley Beck river basin, south west of the City of Leeds, UK. Integrated 1D and 2D hydrodynamic modelling, using the ISIS and TUFLOW has been utilised to explore potential impact of SuDS on the flood hazard for three (1:15, 1:50 and 1:100) flood events. A direct rainfall runoff modelling approach has been employed to implicitly incorporate SuDS features within the case study region. Results indicate that SuDS reduce the flood hazard in downstream for all three (1:15, 1:50 and 1:100) flood events, with the effect more pronounced for the lowest rainfall (1:15) event

Multi-objective optimisation framework for Blue-Green Infrastructure placement using detailed flood model

\ua9 2024 The Author(s)Designing city-scale Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) for flood risk management requires detailed and robust methods. This is due to the complex interaction of flow pathways and the need to assess cost-benefit trade-offs for various BGI options. This study aims to find a cost-effective BGI placement scheme by developing an improved approach called the Cost OptimisatioN Framework for Implementing blue-Green infrastructURE (CONFIGURE). The optimisation framework integrates a detailed hydrodynamic flood simulation model with a multi-objective optimisation algorithm (Non-dominated Sorting Genetic Algorithm II). The use of a high-resolution flood simulation model ensures the explicit representation of BGI and other land use features to simulate flow pathways and surface flood risk accurately, while the optimisation algorithm guarantees achieving the best cost-benefit trade-offs for given BGI options. The current study uses the advanced CityCAT hydrodynamic flood model to evaluate the efficiency of the optimisation framework and the impact of location and size of permeable interventions on the optimisation process and subsequent cost-benefit trade-offs. This is achieved by dividing permeable surface areas into intervention zones of varying size and quantity. Furthermore, rainstorm events with 100-year and 30-year return periods are analysed to identify any common optimal solutions for different rainfall intensities. Depending on the number of intervention locations, the automated framework reliably achieves optimal BGI implementation solutions in a fraction of the time required to find the best solutions by trialling all possible options. Designing and optimising interventions with smaller sizes but many permeable zones save a good fraction of investment. However, such a design scheme requires more computational time to find optimal options. Furthermore, the optimal spatial configuration of BGI varies with different rainstorm severities, suggesting a need for careful selection of the rainstorm return period. Based on the results, CONFIGURE shows promise in devising sustainable urban flood risk management designs

The blue-green path to urban flood resilience

Abstract Achieving urban flood resilience at local, regional and national levels requires a transformative change in planning, design and implementation of urban water systems. Flood risk, wastewater and stormwater management should be re-envisaged and transformed to: ensure satisfactory service delivery under flood, normal and drought conditions, and enhance and extend the useful lives of ageing grey assets by supplementing them with multi-functional Blue-Green infrastructure. The aim of the multidisciplinary Urban Flood Resilience (UFR) research project, which launched in 2016 and comprises academics from nine UK institutions, is to investigate how transformative change may be possible through a whole systems approach. UFR research outputs to date are summarised under three themes. Theme 1 investigates how Blue-Green and Grey (BG + G) systems can be co-optimised to offer maximum flood risk reduction, continuous service delivery and multiple co-benefits. Theme 2 investigates the resource capacity of urban stormwater and evaluates the potential for interoperability. Theme 3 focuses on the interfaces between planners, developers, engineers and beneficiary communities and investigates citizens’ interactions with BG + G infrastructure. Focussing on retrofit and new build case studies, UFR research demonstrates how urban flood resilience may be achieved through changes in planning practice and policy to enable widespread uptake of BG + G infrastructure.EPSR

EUFOREUM Berlin 2023: Optimizing care for type 2 inflammatory diseases from clinic to AI: A pediatric focus.

The European Forum for Research and Education in Allergy and Airways diseases (EUFOREA) organized its bi-annual forum EUFOREUM in Berlin in November 2023. The aim of EUFOREUM 2023 was to highlight pediatric action plans for prevention and optimizing care for type 2 inflammatory conditions starting in childhood, with a focus on early-stage diagnosis, ensuring neither under- nor overdiagnosis, optimal care, and suggestions for improvement of care. EUFOREA is an international not-for-profit organization forming an alliance of all stakeholders dedicated to reducing the prevalence and burden of chronic respiratory diseases through the implementation of optimal patient care via educational, research, and advocacy activities. The inclusive and multidisciplinary approach of EUFOREA was reflected in the keynote lectures and faculty of the virtual EUFOREUM 2023 (www.euforea.eu/euforeum) coming from the pediatric, allergology, pulmonology, ENT, dermatology, primary health care fields and patients around the central theme of type 2 inflammation. As most type 2 inflammatory conditions may start in childhood or adolescence, and most children have type 2 inflammation when suffering from a respiratory or skin disease, the moment has come to raise the bar of ambitions of care, including prevention, remission and disease modification at an early stage. The current report provides a comprehensive overview of key statements by the faculty of the EUFOREUM 2023 and the ambitions of EUFOREA allowing all stakeholders in the respiratory field to be updated and ready to join forces in Europe and beyond

Evaluating the multiple benefits of a Blue-Green Vision for urban surface water management

A Blue-Green City aims to recreate a naturally-oriented water cycle while contributing to the amenity of the city by bringing water management and green infrastructure together. The Blue-Green approach is more than a stormwater management strategy aimed at improving water quality and providing flood risk benefits. It can also provide important ecosystem services, socio-cultural benefits and adaptability to future (uncertain) changes in climate and landuse. However, quantitative evaluation of the benefits, their spatial distribution and co-dependencies are not well understood. The Blue-Green Cities Research Consortium has adopted an interdisciplinary approach to quantitatively evaluate the benefits of Blue-Green infrastructure (BGI) and their relative significance. A new ArcGIS evaluation tool has been developed which can identify the spatial distribution of different benefits and normalise benefits onto a uniform scale. This allows the local impact of multiple benefit types, benefit dependencies and dis-benefits to be directly compared, helping decision makers to co-optimise the benefits from the outset of project planning. The tool was successfully piloted in 2014 in Portland, Oregon, a city with a Blue-Green Vision and extensive investment in green infrastructure, primarily to help reduce the number of combined sewer overflows and improve water quality. This paper also reports on the application of the benefit evaluation tool in Newcastle (UK). Here, hydrodynamic models have been developed to simulate pluvial flood inundation and the movement of water through BGI. An overland flow model has been integrated with the subsurface drainage network to handle discontinuous free surface and pressurised flows. This allows the simulation of mixed flows in pipes and realistic modelling of sewer outflow events. A hypothetical future is presented for a residential area of Newcastle where all pavements and back-alleyways have permeable paving and all gardens are greenspace. Modelling shows that the BGI provides temporary storage and helps alleviate the burden on the subsurface system. The Blue-Green Vision for Newcastle was developed by the Learning and Action Alliance (LAA), an open arrangement where participants create a joint understanding of a problem and its possible solutions based on rational criticism and discussion. The LAA encourages cooperation between a diverse range of stakeholders from different disciplines and backgrounds, including local authorities, major landowners, water companies, academia and environmental groups, and represents a novel approach to facilitate the negotiation of a Blue-Green Vision that addresses strategic objectives, public realm improvements and, not least, the management of urban surface water

Delivering And Evaluating The Multiple Flood Risk Benefits In Blue-Green Cities: An Interdisciplinary Approach

A Blue-Green City aims to recreate a naturally-oriented water cycle while contributing to the amenity of the city by bringing water management and green infrastructure together. The Blue-Green approach is more than a stormwater management strategy aimed at improving water quality and providing flood risk benefits. It can also provide important ecosystem services and socio-cultural benefits when the urban system is in a non-flood condition. However, quantitative evaluation of benefits and the appraisal of the relative significance of each benefit in a given location are not well understood. The Blue-Green Cities Research Project aims to develop procedures for the robust evaluation of the multiple functionalities of Blue-Green Infrastructure (BGI) components within flood risk management (FRM) strategies. The salient environmental challenge of FRM cuts across disciplinary boundaries, hence an interdisciplinary approach aims to avoid partial framing of the ongoing FRM debate. The Consortium, comprising academics from eight UK institutions and numerous disciplines, will investigate linkages between human behaviours and physical processes, and produce an urban flood model to simulate the movement of water and sediment through Blue-Green features. Individual and institutional agents will be incorporated into the model to illustrate how their behavioural changes impact on flooding and vice versa. A methodological approach for evaluating the interaction of urban FRM components within the wider urban system will be developed and highlight where, when and to whom a range of benefits may accrue from BGI and other flood management interventions under non-flood and flood conditions. Recognition of the compound uncertainties involved in achieving multiple benefits at scale will be part of the ongoing robust method of uncertainty evaluation. The deliverables will be applied to a chosen demonstration case study, Newcastle, UK, in the final year of the project (2015). This paper will introduce the Blue-Green Cities Research Project and the novel, interdisciplinary framework that is adopted to investigate multiple FRM benefits

ARIA 2016 : Care pathways implementing emerging technologies for predictive medicine in rhinitis and asthma across the life cycle

The Allergic Rhinitis and its Impact on Asthma (ARIA) initiative commenced during a World Health Organization workshop in 1999. The initial goals were (1) to propose a new allergic rhinitis classification, (2) to promote the concept of multi-morbidity in asthma and rhinitis and (3) to develop guidelines with all stakeholders that could be used globally for all countries and populations. ARIA-disseminated and implemented in over 70 countries globally-is now focusing on the implementation of emerging technologies for individualized and predictive medicine. MASK [MACVIA (Contre les Maladies Chroniques pour un Vieillissement Actif)-ARIA Sentinel NetworK] uses mobile technology to develop care pathways for the management of rhinitis and asthma by a multi-disciplinary group and by patients themselves. An app (Android and iOS) is available in 20 countries and 15 languages. It uses a visual analogue scale to assess symptom control and work productivity as well as a clinical decision support system. It is associated with an inter-operable tablet for physicians and other health care professionals. The scaling up strategy uses the recommendations of the European Innovation Partnership on Active and Healthy Ageing. The aim of the novel ARIA approach is to provide an active and healthy life to rhinitis sufferers, whatever their age, sex or socio-economic status, in order to reduce health and social inequalities incurred by the disease.Peer reviewe