As a result of sloped topography and impermeable ground surface, the Gomeznarro Park in Madrid was affected by erosion during heavy rainfall events, and the surrounding residential areas suffered from flash flooding. In response to these problems, in 2003 complex works aiming at improving the natural drainage and rainwater retention were carried out in the park.
The Kis-Sárrét area is located in south-eastern Hungary close to the Romanian border. The area is part of the Körös-Maros National Park and is included in the Natura 2000 network. It hosts numerous plants, animals, and habitat types of EU community importance. Its landscape has undergone dramatic changes during the past 200 years. In particular, extensive marshes were reduced and altered as a result of water regulations between 1856 and 1879. As a consequence, many areas constantly or temporarily covered by water disappeared, and the traditional management of the natural landscape changed.
The area of the Eferdinger Becken, Upper Austria, is a small area that lies on the Danube. It has no protection against floods with a 100-year return time: the flood-prone area includes about 154 houses that flood regularly. Due to the importance of the retention space for the discharge and the difficult technical feasibility, passive flood protection was considered as more suitable. Homeowners needed to decide on relocation by the end of 2015. The federal and the regional governments compensate citizens 80% of the value of the house if they agree to move.
Normally a shallow river, the White Cart Water was prone to flash flooding. Its water levels can rise by six metres after just 12 hours of rain, which threatened vulnerable Glasgow suburbs downstream. Public awareness of such flooding risks in the 1980s and 1990s, and projections of more intense periods of rainfall made devising a flood prevention scheme a priority for the Glasgow City Council.
Kristalbad is an area of about 40 hectares located in the east of the Netherlands between the cities of Enschede (160.000 inhabitants) and Hengelo (81.000 inhabitants). This is one of the last remaining green areas between these two cities, playing a role for ecosystem-based adaptation to cope with potential climate change related impacts.
Isola Vicentina (Italy) signed the EU’s Mayors Adapt initiative (current Covenant of Mayors for Climate and Energy) in 2014 and since then started the elaboration process of its Municipal Water Management Plan (MWMP) in order to integrate climate change adaptation into its water management policies. For this purpose, Isola Vicentina Mayor engaged the “Planning Climate Change” research group at the IUAV University of Venice and Green-Dev studio, a local consultancy firm.
In 2000, the governments of Bulgaria, Romania, Ukraine and Moldova pledged to work together – with the signing of the Lower Danube Green Corridor Agreement - to establish a green corridor along the entire length of the Lower Danube River (~1,000 km). All partners recognized a need and shared responsibility to protect and manage the Lower Danube in a sustainable way.
The Ebro delta (Catalonia, Spain) and its coastal lagoons (Alfacada and Tancada) are vulnerable to the effects of climate change, particularly to sea level rise. In combination with sediment deficit due to river regulation and subsidence, sea lever rise can lead to exacerbated coastal erosion and retreat. Local management practices (e.g. intensive rice farming) have also affected the natural habitats and species of the delta, causing wetland loss and changes in salinity and water quality.
As a Mediterranean coastal city, Barcelona is particularly vulnerable to climate change. Its high population density also magnifies the local heat island effect which causes an array of health and environmental challenges. Climate change projections include a rise in average temperature and a significant decrease in rainfall, with expected lasting droughts and intense heat waves. In response, Barcelona has committed to becoming a global model of a sustainable city combating urban development challenges related to climate change and population density.
Forests can provide effective protection against rockfalls, landslides and avalanches; their preservation and proper management can maintain these services and functions which assume relevance also in the perspective of adaptation to current extreme events and future climate changes. The Protect Bio method enables the evaluation of these ecosystem services. The method aims to evaluate if technical protective (and expensive) measures (i.e.