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 climate change-appropriate urban development and was adopted by the City Council in May 2013 as a strategy and target concept for the city of Jena (No. 13/1991-BV). 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" spans 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. Buildingon 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 investigation report
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.
- 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.
- JELKA: The local decision support tool JELKA, designed for the city of Jena, maps the adaptation measures relevant to Jena, which were compiled from various tools and databases.
- Action catalog: 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.
- Handbook: All of the above-mentioned partial results were ultimately incorporated into the "Handbook for climate change-friendly urban development" for Jena.
- Website: The website is the central point of contact for all interested citizens and stakeholders. It documents information on the project, the scientific background, the steps taken to achieve the goals set and the results obtained.
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. The projects include "Urban trees in a changing climate" (2016), "Heat stress at urban daycare centers and elementary school" (2017) and "Green climate oases in Jena's urban space" (2017-2020).
The "Urban climate concept for the city of Jena", which is currently in progress, is an update of Jena's climate adaptation strategy in the in-depth module "Heat load and ventilation". The urban climate concept is intended to provide concrete advice for urban planning on how to deal with climatically important ventilation paths and areas of overheating. In addition, the city of Jena's heat action plan is currently being developed. It aims to prevent the population from the effects of heat by establishing preventative options for action and risk behavior adapted to the situation.
During the development of the Jena climate adaptation strategy, an interdepartmental working group was set up 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 departments 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.