Climate adaptation strategy
JenKAS - The Jena Climate Adaptation Strategy
The effects of global climate change are already clearly noticeable in many places. Jena is also confronted with extreme weather events, which have occurred with increasing frequency in recent years. Prolonged periods of heat and the resulting strain on the population are increasingly presenting the city with the challenge and task of taking preventative measures and educating its residents.
In addition to protecting the climate with measures to avoid and reduce emissions of climate-relevant greenhouse gases, adapting to the consequences of climate change is therefore a municipal task that is becoming increasingly important in view of the growing impact. The aim of climate adaptation measures is to mitigate the unavoidable consequences of climate change and those that have already occurred and to avert damage.
Both fields of action - "climate protection" and "adaptation to climate change" - should by no means be in competition with each other. In terms of an integrated climate protection concept, the aim must be to coordinate all measures and use the synergies of both fields of action for sustainable urban development.
The Jena Climate Adaptation Strategy JenKAS contains fundamental approaches and guiding principles for urban development in line with climate change and was adopted as a strategy and target concept for the city of Jena by the city council on 15.05.2013 (No. 13/1991-BV(link is external)). With JenKAS, the city, as an urban region that is highly affected by the effects of climate change, has a long-term decision-making aid for managing all aspects of urban development and a guideline for the future topics of climate change and adaptation in order to maintain and further develop Jena as an attractive location for people to live and work despite changing climatic conditions.
Project
The project "JenKAS - Jena Climate Adaptation Strategy" spanned a time frame from December 2009 to September 2012. In 2009, Jena was selected as one of nine model municipalities nationwide within the ExWoSt research program to participate in the research field "Urban Strategies for Climate Change - Municipal Strategies and Potentials".
The aim was to develop a holistic and city-wide strategy for adapting to climate change. Building on a preliminary study from 2009, JenKAS aimed to improve the data basis for the implementation of urban development in line with climate change, raise public awareness and provide decision-making support for all stakeholders by means of an interdisciplinary decision support system.
Project goals
- Incorporating the effects of climate change into urban development and developing a local climate change adaptation strategy
- Improving the data basis for the implementation of urban development in line with climate change in order to use technical decision-making and assessment bases
- Raising public awareness and providing information on the effects of climate change and possible options for action
- Utilization of information and data on climate change and adaptation options through a database tool to support municipal decision-making and a "Handbook for climate-change-friendly urban development"
Actors
- City of Jena
- Thuringian Institute for Sustainability and Climate Protection (ThINK) as local research assistant
- Federal Institute for Research on Building, Urban Affairs and Spatial Development at the Federal Office for Building and Regional Planning (BBSR)
- Thuringian State Institute for Environment and Geology (TLUG)
- German Weather Service (DWD)
- Helmholtz Center for Environmental Research GmbH (UFZ)
- BPW baumgart+partner and plan+risk consult as federal research assistance
Development process
The work process to achieve the project objectives was divided into numerous individual steps that were carried out sequentially, sometimes in parallel, in work blocks. These were
| Step | Step Content |
|---|---|
| Step A | Analysis of the measurement and modeling data and documentation in a local climate change report |
| Step B | Assessment and documentation of the local impacts of climate change in the individual fields of action |
| Step C | Development of spatially specific adaptation measures using a decision support tool |
| Step D | Stakeholder-related, cooperative networking through workshops and an internet-based information portal |
| Step E | Public relations work through events, presentations and publications |
In parallel, the German Weather Service worked on the implementation of the cooperation content, the results of which were combined with the knowledge gained to date in the final project phase.
- Construction and operation of three temporary climate measuring stations, including a SODAR measuring device
- Several profile measurement runs in autochthonous weather conditions
- Simulations with the cold air model KLAM_21 and the urban climate model MUKLIMO_3
- Final study report (available under Links)
The BBSR provides all interested municipalities, institutions and private individuals with the"Stadtklimalotse"(link is external) internet portal for use across all projects. This advisory tool serves to support decision-making on the concrete implementation of climate protection and adaptation measures and also includes the possibility of an initial impact assessment on climate change.
Results
At the end of the JenKAS project, there will be a series of results that should enable the city administration of Jena and other affected stakeholders to assess the local effects of climate change and incorporate them into their planning. These are
- Map series: Numerous specialized maps were created in the course of the project. They contain spatially differentiated statements on the climate impact in the urban area, the risk of urban overheating, summer drought, flooding/heavy precipitation and erosion. Based on this, a risk-conflict map and a planning information map were created, which presents the results in more detail for planners. Furthermore, urban climatological content was prepared in a climate topography map and a climate function map. The map series, consisting of 11 maps, can be found under Downloads.
- DWD expertise: During the course of the project, the DWD carried out local climate modeling with the KLAM_21 cold air model and the MUKLIMO_3 urban climate model as well as a parallel terrain measurement campaign.
- Action plan: Based on the JELKA decision support tool, recommendations for action were derived for the three levels of climate impact, field of action and district, which contain possible or recommendable adaptation options in the respective context. The recommendations for action developed are intended to support local stakeholders in making decisions in the climate adaptation process. They are to be taken into account in the planning process and serve as a starting point for the derivation and implementation of concrete, localized measures. The action catalogs for the individual climate impacts, fields of action and Jena districts are included in the JELKA. The complete catalog of recommendations for action can be downloaded under Downloads.
- Handbook: All of the above-mentioned partial results have ultimately been incorporated into the "Handbook of climate change-friendly urban development" for Jena, which was published as the 3rd volume of the "Schriften zur Stadtentwicklung" series. This serves as a working basis for employees of the city administration on issues relating to the conflicting priorities of urban development and climate change.
Stabilization process
On 15.05.2013, the City Council confirmed the adaptation strategy as an informal planning instrument. It is intended to serve as a long-term decision-making aid and impetus for the future topics of climate change and climate adaptation. The 118 recommendations for action on adaptation to climate change contained in JenKAS are to be continuously implemented in concrete projects.
In recent years, individual projects have already been derived from the JenKAS strategy paper and implemented. These projects include the urban tree concept "Urban and street trees in a changing climate" (2016), "Heat stress at municipal daycare centers and elementary school" (2017) and the research project "Green climate oases in Jena's urban space" (2017 - 2020).
With the "Urban climate concept for the city of Jena", the Jena climate adaptation strategy was updated in the in-depth module "Heat load and ventilation". The urban climate concept provides concrete information for urban planning on how to deal with climatically important ventilation paths and areas of overheating. In addition, the "Heat Action Plan of the City of Jena" was drawn up and confirmed by the City Council on 21.05.2025. It pursues the goal of preventing the population from the effects of heat by establishing preventive options for action and risk behavior adapted to the situation.
An interdepartmental working group was set up during the development of Jena's climate adaptation strategy to consolidate the content. This working group is an important building block in the process of the long-term existence and further development of JenKAS. The aim is the transfer of knowledge and a regular exchange of information on current topics and projects. The working group includes various specialist services of the city administration, the Climate Competence Center (specialist department of the TLUBN), the Environmental Research Center Leipzig, ThINK Jena, representatives of the Friedrich Schiller University and other experts involved in the topic.