Plataforma sobre Adaptación al Cambio Climático en España

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EGOKI: integrating adaptation to climate change in spatial and urban planning in municipalities in Navarre

Autor:

The Navarre Network Association of Local Entities for Sustainability, with the support of the Biodiversity Foundation and the Spanish Office for Climate Change, has carried out the EGOKI project. The purpose of this project is to incorporate climate change adaptation criteria into the urban planning processes of the local entities of the Autonomous Community of Navarre.

Case Study Description
Challenges: 

The EGOKI Project seeks to answer questions such as: How should we plan and manage the municipal territory, in a comprehensive way, to reduce its vulnerability to climate change in urban areas, rural areas and natural environment? How can trees and green areas contribute to reducing the impact of heat waves? How should sewerage networks be sized if climate change portends an increase in torrential rains? How can buildings be transformed to maintain thermal comfort and reduce greenhouse gas emissions?

Anticipation is key and the local level is the ideal context for adaptation, since it is at the local level where changes have a direct effect on people's well-being and health and where policies that promote territorial and social resilience can/should be implemented.

The incorporation of climate change adaptation into local planning is therefore unavoidable, and is especially relevant in urban planning:

In the urban sphere, planning conditions aspects such as the location of activities in areas that are sensitive to risks (floods, heat waves, etc.), the thermal comfort of homes and facilities, water management (increasingly critical), the environmental quality of outdoor spaces (with increasingly extreme temperatures), etc.

In rural areas, from a broad concept of municipal land use planning that includes rural land, planning contributes to establishing conditions that favour the prevention of forest fires and their possible impact on population centres, the protection of the landscape, the promotion of organic agriculture and extensive livestock farming, the sustainable management of forests, etc.

Reducing the vulnerability of Navarrese municipalities is the main objective of EGOKI, and its result, a set of recommendations to integrate climate change adaptation criteria into urban planning procedures in Navarre.

The project is being developed in rural municipalities of small and medium-sized size in terms of population (the pilot municipalities have fewer than 10,000 inhabitants) for which there are few adaptation experiences, particularly in the urban area, but also in the application of adaptation criteria on rural land from the General Municipal Plan.

Some relevant challenges to consider when integrating CC adaptation into urban planning are:

  1. Link planning with the development model.
  2. Urban planning compared to the rest of the territory.
  3. Temporal scope of the planning with respect to the horizon of the climate change scenarios.
  4. Decisive content versus recommendations.
  5. Flexibility in planning for incremental adaptation.
  6. Coordination of municipal general planning and other municipal plans, especially Local Agenda 21 (which defines the municipal sustainability strategy) and related sectoral plans (forestry, flooding, health, etc.)
Objectives: 
  • Overcome the knowledge barriers that lead to inaction on climate change in the field of territorial planning.
  • Incorporate adaptation to climate change into the urban planning of local entities in Navarre.
  • Understand the scenarios, impacts and vulnerability, as well as the possible adaptation proposals in different climatic subregions and type of municipality.
  • Develop a pilot process in 4 municipalities that can be replicated throughout the autonomous community.
  • Transfer regulatory proposals to the Government of Navarre.
Solutions: 

EGOKI (adapts in Basque) contributes to achieving the objectives of the Climate Change Roadmap of Navarre (KLINA) that is being developed by the Regional Government (with the participation of society at large) and specifically, to preventing vulnerability derived from the impacts of climate change at the local level.

The four pilot municipalities (Corella, Esteribar, Noain-Valle de Elorz and Villatuerta, local entities belonging to the NELS Network (Navarre Network of Sustainable Local Entities) (different in terms of typology and climate subregion) pilot the work of incorporating climate change adaptation criteria in their urban planning, under the guidance by experts. The rest of the local entities integrated in the NELS Network and in the whole of Navarre benefit from the knowledge that is generated in the pilot experiences, the participation in training sessions and the promotion of the integration of climate change criteria in territorial and urban planning in the Autonomous Community of Navarre.

EGOKI is developed in a participatory way, through the theoretical-practical training of agents, local workshops with technical planning commissions, debates in municipal plenary sessions, talks open to citizens and exchange of experiences. As a conclusion to the process, the NELS Network has formally presented to the Government of Navarre a document of specific proposals in the field of territorial and urban planning, which may be extended to the whole of the Autonomous Community in the form of Technical Planning Instructions. The Territorial Planning and Landscape Service oversees transposing it and transferring it to all municipalities.

The first of the activities was a theoretical-practical training course aimed at the training of agents that has increased general knowledge and started the work of the teams of the four municipalities, thanks to a participatory methodology applied to the pilot cases.

Subsequently, the tutored process was developed, specifying in each pilot a proposal of measures and their integration into the planning through different mechanisms, and in coordination with other municipal and sectoral plans. The teams have shared knowledge by exchanging documents and holding joint meetings.

The technical documents generated were presented to the Urban Planning Commissions of each city council and have been debated and approved in Municipal Plenary Sessions, thus guaranteeing the integration of the measures in each of the Municipal General Plans.

The methodology followed and particularized in each municipality was developed in several phases: categorization of the municipal territory in relation to the climate, study of climate variability, identification of impacts and systems and sectors exposed to risks, prioritization of impact chains, vulnerability analysis and risk assessment, and adaptation measures characterized according to the planning instrument for their deployment, the implementation and execution mechanisms, and the scope and purpose of each measure.

By municipalities, some significant measures have been:

  • Corella, in the face of the increase in temperature, has included in the Municipal Regulations and Ordinances obligations or recommendations and criteria for the rehabilitation of homes, the installation of shading systems and water collection and storage. Also, the establishment of conditions and urbanization criteria for proper ventilation, shading, vegetation and use of low-albedo materials in streets and squares.
  • Esteribar, in response to the risk of forest fires, has considered the classification of urban and developable land according to the presence of wooded masses near nuclei, the creation of firebreaks according to Civil Protection recommendations, the doubling of access to vulnerable populations and the regulation of uses on non-developable land to avoid activities that may cause fires.
  • Noian-Valle de Elorz, facing the risk of landscape degradation and the loss of biodiversity and crop yields, has included the creation of a network of green paths (linked to the environmental strategy of Local Agenda 21), establishing a specific categorisation of suitable soils, giving priority to communal soils and defining normatively the procedures for obtaining non-communal soils.
  • Villatuerta, in response to the risk of river flooding, has contemplated different actions on the course of the Iranzu River, which crosses the town, and the streams that feed it, including the declassification of developable land in floodable areas to create natural relief zones and the establishment of the mechanisms for obtaining the land (exchanges and expropriations), as well as the generation of a regulation pond through a Special Plan on Non-Developable Land
Importance and relevance of the adaptation: 

The EGOKI project is not only a local climate change adaptation initiative, but also a significant contribution to the development of broader adaptation policies and practices in Navarre, aligned with the Navarre Climate Change Roadmap (KLINA).

Additional Details
Stakeholder engagement: 

The EGOKI Project is an initiative of the Navarre Network of Local Entities for Sustainability (NELS Network) and has the support and backing of the Government of Navarre (through the General Directorate of Environment and Territorial Planning) and the collaboration of Lursarea-Navarre Agency for Territory and Sustainability (a part of the public company Nasuvinsa). The municipalities of Corella, Esteribar, Noain-Valle de Elorz and Villatuerta are developing the pilot experiences and contributing to the financing of the project. All these entities signed a collaboration agreement at the beginning of the project to confirm their commitment to work together.

These four municipalities have piloted the incorporation of climate change adaptation criteria in the revision of their urban planning, guided by experts (advised by Tecnalia Research & Innovation). The rest of the local entities that make up the NELS Network benefit from the knowledge generated through the pilot experiences, participation in training sessions and the promotion of the integration of climate change criteria into territorial and urban planning in the Autonomous Community of Navarre.

Lursarea and the Government of Navarra provide technical and logistical support to the project and the NELS Network: Lursarea contributed to the design of the project and has hosted and offered technical support to the coordinator, and the Government of Navarra, which currently assumes the Technical Secretariat of the NELS Network (through which it supports the project), has technically supervised the process through the Territorial Planning and Landscape Service.

The project was supported of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and the Environment, through the Biodiversity Foundation, and its co-financing was approved in the Call for Grants of the Biodiversity Foundation, on a competitive basis, for the implementation of projects in the field of adaptation to climate change 2016.

EGOKI has been developed in a participatory way, through technical training courses involving various stakeholders, local workshops, debates in municipal plenary sessions and talks open to the public.

The various actions aimed at different audiences (in addition to the technical teams of each of the pilot municipalities), such as the training course and the final technical seminar, have been disseminated via email and social networks of the NELS RED (Facebook and Twitter), as well as through press releases on the Government of Navarre´s website.

Project interest: 

Urban planning at the municipal level has significant potential for adaptation to climate change.

The project is being developed in small municipalities (less than 10,000 inhabitants) in which there are few experiences of adaptation in the urban environment, as well as in the contribution of the General Municipal Plan to the incorporation of adaptation to climate change in rural and natural environments (rural land management).

Additionally, the development of pilot initiatives makes it possible to verify the results of the actions and a greater dissemination for their replication in other municipalities with similar characteristics. On the other hand, the approach of the project as a participatory process that considers all the agents involved favours a greater appropriation of the adaptation measures adopted, giving the proposals sustainability over time.

Success and limiting factors: 

The process ended in June 2018, with the presentation by the NELS Network to the Government of Navarre of a document containing specific proposals in the field of territorial and urban planning, which could be extended to the whole of the Autonomous Community in the form of Criteria or Technical Planning Instructions, depending on the transposition made by the Territorial Planning and Landscape Service. The fact that the four pilot municipalities are representative of most Navarrese municipalities, located in the four main climatic subregions identified in Navarre, guarantees the transferability of the work.

Minor drawbacks arose during the process, but they have not prevented the actions from being completed as planned and the objectives from being successfully achieved. Specifically, there has been initial difficulty on the part of the agents participating in the training course (including municipal work teams) to assimilate novel concepts and technical aspects related to climate adaptation in connection with urban planning, as well as difficulty in keeping pace with the pace and quality of the work of the different municipal teams at certain times. (In Navarre, most small municipalities do not have specific technicians, and the planning drafting teams have had different time availability).

It is important to note that the political and technical commitment of the four pilot municipalities with EGOKI was firm and despite the difficulties that arose at certain times, they have provided solutions and given priority to the project. This, together with the collaborative work scheme and the commitment, also firm, of all the entities that have signed the agreement, has been the main success factor.

Regarding the development of the specific work on the integration of adaptation criteria in planning, it should be noted that, as it was a new subject, the different technicians have approached the work in a different way, and it was complex to compile the conclusions in a common document that would guide the work of all Navarrese municipalities in the future.

It was positive to see that the best way to advance in knowledge was to learn by doing and sharing and contrasting what was worked on, thus demonstrating that the planned methodology was very effective. It was essential to have different teams working at the same time and supporting each other, because it has always facilitated the motivation of the technicians and prevented them from being discouraged due to a lack of confidence in their ability to tackle such a novel task.

During the process, useful data sources were identified, as well as some gaps in information and specific studies needed to pinpoint the climate scenarios, hazards, vulnerabilities and adaptive capacities of different specific systems and sectors. From this point of view, the process was also useful in identifying the available and unavailable information that may be necessary to integrate climate adaptation into territorial and urban planning and conveying to the Government of Navarre and Lursarea the need to carry out studies, compile indicators, etc. at the local level. The positive aspect was that the lack of accurate information provides an opportunity to train the capacity for analysis and decision-making based on the discretion of the technicians (expert judgment).

It is worth highlighting once again the close collaboration between all the signatory entities of the agreement and adding the participation of the Navarre Delegation of the State Meteorological Agency (AEMET), which also contributed to the project through training and advisory actions.

All the above has highlighted EGOKI as a project that facilitates coordination between public administrations and entities related to climate change, promoting the development of the Climate Change Roadmap of Navarre (KLINA).

Budget, funding and additional benefits: 

The total budget of the project is € 54,365 (euros). The financing of this is public and comes from different administrations: state, regional and local.

The project has the support of the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries, Food and Environment through the Biodiversity Foundation and its funding has been approved in the Call for Grants of the Biodiversity Foundation, on a competitive basis, for the implementation of projects in the field of adaptation to climate change 2016.

The Biodiversity Foundation finances 70% of the budget, which amounts a grant of € 38,055 (euros). 30%, €16,310 (euros) is provided by the NELS Network (€13,310) and the pilot municipalities (€750 each).

Both the Government of Navarre and Lursarea-Navarre Agency for Territory and Sustainability (part of the public company Nasuvinsa) collaborate with the project, supporting the coordinator: the Government, through the Technical Secretariat of the NELS Network and the monitoring of the Territorial Planning and Landscape Service, and Lursarea, by contributing to the design of the project and hosting and providing technical support to the coordinator.

The project has been successfully completed: the agents involved in Navarre have been trained in territorial planning and urban planning, the four pilot municipalities have completed the process and the conclusions of their work can be transferred to the whole of Navarre. The involvement of the work teams (municipal technicians and planning drafting teams) was fundamental. The training of planning drafting teams in this area is considered key to extending the incorporation of climate change adaptation criteria to other Municipal General Plans and planning of different scales (there are few urban planning specialists who work in Navarre and all of them work in different municipalities at the same time).

The EGOKI project has been at the forefront in the establishment of adaptive planning and management of the territory and the built environment in Navarre, whose continuity is guaranteed thanks to the training of the agents, the development of Criteria or Technical Instructions for planning and the coordination of this work with the development of the Climate Change Roadmap of Navarre (KLINA) and with the LIFE Integrated NADAPTA project.

EGOKI demonstrate a high efficiency from the point of view of cost-benefit ratio, since with a modest budget it has managed to achieve very good results, which will be sustained and increased over time.

Legal aspects: 

Compliance with Regional Legislation:

The project is under the guidelines and objectives established in KLINA, which is the strategic framework of the Government of Navarre to combat climate change through adaptation and mitigation.

As part of its implementation, the EGOKI project is closely aligned to the urban and territorial planning regulations of Navarre, which regulate land use, the construction of infrastructures, and the management of natural resources and green spaces.

Integration of Adaptation Criteria in Municipal Planning:

The recommendations of the EGOKI project are intended to be integrated into the urban planning procedures of the municipalities of Navarre, which implies modifications or adaptations in the existing municipal plans. This could require review and approval by the relevant regulatory bodies to ensure that they comply with local and regional laws.

Coordination with Existing Plans:

The project should be coordinated with other municipal and regional plans and policies, such as Local Agenda 21 and sectoral plans (forestry, floods, health, etc.). This ensures that climate change adaptation measures are aligned with other sustainable development initiatives and do not create regulatory or implementation conflicts.

Implementation time: 

September 2017 – June 2018

Reference Information
Contact: 

Edurne