Progress beyond the state of the art
Important scientific progress has been made by the RESIN project by:
• The development of a comprehensive risk typology with a European coverage based on a clustering approach. An advanced way of clustering was applied to create Classes and Subclasses of regions.
• The development of a methodology for risk assessment based on the IPCC 5th Assessment report risk concept. The IVAVIA methodology makes the IPCC AR5 risk concepts applicable in an urban adaptation setting.
• Providing a systematic overview and analysis of the effectiveness and cost data on urban climate adaptation measures. For the first time an overview has been generated of the variation in effectiveness measurement of urban adaptation options. The outcomes have been analysed and are presented in the Adaptation Option Library.
Actual and potential impact of the project
Actual and potential impact of the project is generated by:
• Formal standardisation:
Through the inclusion of RESIN inputs in draft standard ISO/DIS 14090 and through the possible inclusion of RESIN inputs or influence in standards in development: ISO 14091, ISO 154902, ISO 14050. The adaptation options library includes information on the standards that are relevant for the respective adaptation measures, which encourages the use and development of technical standards
• Application:
The actual use of RESIN outputs in, for instance:
o Five tier-2 cities (Lahti, Reykjavik, Almada, Athens and Padua) and the ‘external’ cities of Glasgow and Rotterdam have expressed concrete interest in applying RESIN tools;
o Tier 2 cities, such as Lahti, and other cities like Glasgow already using IVAVIA;
o the development of an adaptation planning tool in The Netherlands using the information from the Library of Adaptation Options;
o
o the Polish Institute of Environmental Protection expressing interest in incorporating one or more tools into a national framework to support adaptation in Polish cities
• Dissemination (and informal standardisation)
The inclusion of RESIN material in the ClimateADAPT website maintained by the EEA, which ensures long-lasting dissemination. Special interest has been expressed in the overview of tools included in the e-Guide, the European Climate Risk typology, and the adaptation options library.
High-level policy conclusions from the RESIN project
Co-creation between researchers and urban stakeholders can lead to better and more applicable results. However, support is needed to make it happen, also allowing for experimentation.
Standardisation in urban climate adaptation is actively developing in several organisational settings. This standardisation process needs involvement of urban stakeholders from various sectors and disciplines.
Maintaining a network of cities in Europe around urban climate adaptation requires continuity in (research) projects that are able to regularly gather city representatives.